The Hidden Duchess
by Moxified
Summary: She had always been given everything she wanted ever since she was a child, spoiled to the very bone. Her life consisted of a strict regimen built for a princess that was followed to a tee - even after she came to Hogwarts. Leading two lives is stressful for anyone, especially a young lady with an equally young man curious enough to discover what secrets she was hiding.
1. 1

**1**

 **09\. 19. 79.**

 **St Mary's Hospital, London**

On a mid-september night, just as the chill of fall began to set in for the season, and the Whomping Willow laid its branches to rest for the evening, Albus Dumbledore was awakened by the incessant chirp of an anxious phoenix right as the clock struck twelve. The old headmaster sighed in irritation at having been disturbed from his slumber, and quite a pleasant dream, too. The fleeting image of him riding a bright orange occamy through a field of lemon drops came to him as he slid on his magenta night slippers, all while Fawkes trilled from the other room.

The bird in question was found in one corner of Albus' office, his usual perch abandoned. As he approached the offending bird, the drowsiness cleared and he slowly realized that the Phoenix was standing atop the Book of Admittance, which was glowing brightly with the telltale light of a new entry into the book. Albus' brow rose in question, the entering of a student's name on the list was common enough in his office that his phoenix ignored the occurrence.

The headmaster approached the dragonhide bound book, nudging aside the hovering Quill of Acceptance that had just finished writing the location of the entry next to the student's name. There, in fresh ink, was the newest name on the list for the future batch of Hogwarts students, Lady Hermione Jean Percy, Room 919, St Mary's Hospital, London.

The confusion fell away as Albus read the girl's title. He immediately moved towards the fireplace, scooping up a bit of Floo Powder, and tossing it into the dying embers in the hearth.

" _Harold Mitchum_." he announced.

The Minister's face appeared a few moments later. "Headmaster Dumbledore, I was not notified that you would be calling. I was just about to step out to go home."

"Yes, well, I hadn't notified myself either, Harold." Albus said, "I'm afraid you are going to have to postpone your plans a while longer."

"How so, Headmaster?" the man asked, wondering what could possibly be happening at Hogwarts.

"A new student was added to the Book of Admittance just a few moments ago by the name of Lady Hermione Percy, who is currently a resident of St Mary's Hospital in London."

The Minister's face took on a look of shock, "Oh my, but there hasn't been a muggle royal or member of peerage in over a century." he muttered, "I must see to this at once, thank you, Headmaster."

His duty done, Albus went back to his personal quarters, hoping that his dream would begin where it had left off

* * *

Ralph and Jane Percy's elation at the birth of their first born was dampened an hour after her birth. Ralph had been watching over his wife, who had succumbed to her exhaustion and had fallen asleep for the night, when he heard the doors to their private room open. He had assumed that it was his father, come to tell him that he was going home for the night, but the soft cough of a woman drew his attention from his dozing wife's side.

The young father's eyes widened when he registered the woman's presence, "Prime Minister Thatcher!" he stuttered, hastily standing. "Good evening! I wasn't aware that my father had told you of my child's birth."

"At ease, Ralph," the woman chuckled at his expense, "I'd like to express my congratulations on the birth of your daughter. But, we are here on official business.

"Business, madam?" he asked, confused. Ralph wondered if this was all a fever dream induced by the exhaustion of his wife's 32 hour labor.

"This is Harold Mitchum, British Minister of Magic." she said, and he finally noticed the presence of a formidable looking man at her side, who was oddly clothes in a cloak of some sort.

"Magic?" he asked in disbelief. Yes, surely he was hallucinating. His hand itched to grab the emergency button on the side of the hospital bed, but the Prime Minister's serious gaze stopped him from doing so.

"Magic and magic wielders has existed in this world for millennia, Ralph, I have only recently been privileged with the knowledge of its existence. Witches and wizards have been living peacefully among us in secret, they have their own world, own form of government, and everything you can imagine."

"But why does this involve me Madam?" he asked, feeling light headed.

"Our world has a way of identifying magic wielders the moment they are born, Mr Percy. Just over an hour ago, we were informed of a new addition of a Muggleborn- a child born of non-magical people - to our population. Nothing of great note, usually, but because of her circumstances, we had to resort to informing your ministry of the situation."

"You see when a witch or wizard is born into royalty or peerage, certain precautions must be set to ensure the secrets of the magical world are kept secret." said Madam Thatcher.

"Are you telling me that my daughter is a - a _witch_?" he said, flabbergasted.

"Yes, and, considering the popularity of your certain house to the public, as well as how those in the peerage are closely observed by many, it would be unwise to allow your daughter to grow up under the eye of the public, surrounded by non-magical people." said Mitchum.

Ralph's face paled in horror, "You aren't taking my daughter!" he said defensively.

"Of course not," the wizard scoffed.

"What we are merely suggesting is that you hide your daughter, keep her out of the public eye until it is time for her to begin her transition into the magical world and attend Hogwarts School for Witches and Wizards." Madam Thatcher said.

"Hide her?" he asked, growing increasingly distraught.

"Yes, her files are being collected as we speak. Her birth will be altered as a stillbirth, and I must ask you to change her last name, at the very least."

The tired man eyed the two notable figures in front of him, "I - I will have to speak with my wife and father about this before agreeing to anything."

"Understandable," Thatcher said, "We will be returning tomorrow to make the proper arrangements."

As the door closed behind them, Ralph glanced at his wife, who had somehow slept through the entire ordeal he had just gone through, and began trying to figure out how to relay the message to an exhausted, recently pregnant woman.

* * *

 **12\. 17. 84.**

 **Alnwick Castle**

Ralph Percy watched his first born child prance around the castle gardens with her two year old sister, giggling while they played. Five years had passed quickly since the day Hermione had been born, and now he and Jane had another two in tow, who had not been blessed with the gift of magic as their eldest had. The younger children, well, Catherine mostly, since George was just an infant, always wondered why their elder sister had to stay at the castle instead of with them in London.

Ralph and Jane struggled to make excuses for Hermione, having agreed to keep Hermione's magic from her brother and sister until they could understand fully. Even now, only their closest family members new about the situation. Hermione stayed in the castle year round, and they visited as much as they could, though with each visit, leaving was even more difficult.

When Hermione turned two, she had been sent to Alnwick to live with her grandfather, Hugh Percy, the Duke of Northumberland, to better hide her identity, since his father kept to himself mostly. They had chosen the name Granger by chance, and had it legally changed, much to his dismay. Hermione seemed to take to everything rather well, immersing herself in her grandfather's library every time she felt a bit down.

Hugh Percy was a strict father, and an even stricter grandfather. To put her time to better use, besides the slew of private tutors that taught her daily lessons every day under a non-disclosure agreement, there was also a Russian ballet teacher, a piano teacher, an arts master, and a governess who oversaw etiquette lessons.

Even now, as the child played with her sister and their grandfather's Saint Bernard, who pounced on the two girls playfully, she held herself with grace and poise. Hermione's magic although coming at a cost, was something they all saw as a talent. Her first bout of accidental magic, which they had been informed would happen, had occurred a few years prior while she had been throwing a tantrum and suddenly sent her stuffed animals flying about the room.

So deep was he in his thoughts that he had not noticed his children coming to greet him. Hermione held on to Catherine's hand for support, guiding them towards him.

"Good afternoon, Father." Hermione said primly.

"Good afternoon, my darling." he said, smiling.

"Papa!" the younger girl cried, extending her arms to be carried.

"I must go, Father." she said, excusing herself, "It's time for my lessons."

"Lessons? Hasn't your grandfather given you a break for Christmas?" he asked, brows raising.

"Yes, but I have ballet and piano classes still." she smiled proudly.

"Of course." he nodded, "Well, you best be off then, love. Should I call Mary for you to help with changing?"

"If you could, please." she nodded before taking her leave.

Hermione growing so much like a child right out of her grandfather's time that her propriety seemed to be so out of place. It alarmed him sometimes, how formal she was, but her grandfather adored that she was a dainty little princess so much, that he obliged.

To be completely honest with himself, he was the same at her age, but instead of ballet and piano, it was horsemanship and violin.

"Dada, where Mi going?" the child in his arms babbled.

"To ballet, little one." he cooed, "Now why don't we go visit Mummy, then?"

* * *

 **07\. 26. 91**

 **Alnwick Castle**

Hermione had been waiting for her Hogwarts letter for most of her life, even though she knew little about it. Her father had explained to her that when witches and wizards turned eleven, she would be able to attend the school to learn how to control her magic. Though for her, it would be twelve, since she was born just shy of September 1st. Also different for her was the fact that even though she was a Muggleborn, she had known all her life that she was a witch.

Hermione knew she was not normal. The fact that she had been born into a noble family was abnormal enough, adding to that she was a witch. It was something she thought about regularly. She understood why her life was the way it was, why she, until recently, only saw her family on holidays and why she had a different name. She loved her family, truly, she did, but the distance between them when she was younger had created an odd relationship between them.

When her grandfather died three years prior, and her uncle succeeded him, her father had been tasked with managing the estate, and had moved the entire family into Alnwick, which she enjoyed greatly, except Catherine and George still left for school and Melissa and Max were too young to play with. She never wanted her father or mother to know she was lonely, her father especially, who worried about her too much, and made up for leaving her all those years by showering her in presents, until now.

She had woken up early that morning, so early that the castle was quiet and the cook had yet to wake up to prepare breakfast. After laying in bed for the longest time trying to go back to bed, she decided to get some air. Godfrey, her late grandfather's Saint Bernard had followed her out the moment he had spotted her sneaking out to the grounds. For a moment, she thought about taking Frost, her horse, out for a ride, but dropped the idea almost immediately.

With a sigh, she settled for a walk around the grounds.

"When do you think my letter will show up, Godfrey?" she asked the behemoth of a dog who only looked up at her in response. "Father said that he was told it would arrive in the summer. I've been waiting for weeks. Do you think I've suddenly not become a witch?"

Godfrey barked, and ran off to chase a butterfly that had been fluttering around some flowers. She sighed again, before continuing on. The castle was one of her favorite things in the world, it was truly something out of a fairytale, and she would be sad about leaving her home for a boarding school in Scotland.

"Lady Hermione?" a voice called from behind them.

She turned to find her nanny walking towards her, "Yes, Mary?"

"It's time to prepare for breakfast now."

Hermione sighed again, but followed the fair haired woman back inside.

"I'll be going soon, you know, Mary." she said after a while.

"Going, my Lady?" Mary asked inquisitively.

"To boarding school." she said. "I suppose you won't see me again 'til Christmas."

"I'm sorry to hear that, my Lady." the maid said softly.

Hermione hummed, nonplussed. She had never gotten on with the servants as well as she wanted to, most of them were too intimidated by her to actually befriend her. Her only friends were her siblings, really, and even then, she only saw them every now and then. That was one of the things she was excited about going to Hogwarts. She could finally be somewhere she didn't have to pretend about who she was.

The year before, her father had begun telling her about the life he and both ministries had built for her. Reading about her nonexistent dentist parents depressed her sometimes, and the notes about where she lived and where she went to school annoyed her. She ever so wanted to tell people about the beautiful castle that she lived in, and her Frost, and her brothers and sisters.

"You're slouching." Mary noticed, having observed Hermione's governess all these years as she was practically beat bloody into a lady. Hermione immediately corrected herself.

"Thank you, Mary." she said, once she entered her room and saw that the woman had prepared her clothes for the day.

Dressed in a pale yellow summer frock her mother had bought for her, she walked down to breakfast at half past eight exactly, where the rest of her family, bar Uncle Henry, who was never at breakfast.

"Good morning." she said, thanking Dirk, their butler, for pulling out her chair, at her father's right hand just across her mother's and next to Catherine who was seated across from George and Melissa. Max was still too young to sit at the table.

"Good morning." they all replied.

They began eating after saying grace, and she found, just like the days prior, she had little to no appetite, choosing instead to absently sip at her tea and look out the window.

"Leopold hates it when you don't eat, you know." says Catherine, who was best friends with the cook and often spent her time in the kitchens.

"I know," she sighed, "but I can't find it in me to eat."

"You're worrying too much about it, of course you've been accepted. The letter might've been delayed or something."

"Cathy's right, you know, love." said her mother, "You know yourself that they've had a spot for you ever since you were born."

She sighed heavily, "I know but what if -"

A distinct tapping came from the window that drew all their attention towards it. Hermione could see a large barn owl perched on the stone ledge outside.

"Leopold, could you get us some more coffee, please." her father said quickly, making the man leave as soon as possible. The minute the door closed behind him, Hermione stood, walking quickly to pry the heavy windows open. When they wouldn't budge, her father stood to push the glass panes and help her, looking down at his child, who seemed to almost be exploding with excitement.

Hermione unwound the letter from the bird's leg and tore the seal open, eyes rapidly scanning the words written. "I've been accepted!" she exclaimed.

Her father chuckled, looking at the letter over her shoulder, "Of course you have, darling."

He led her still busy daughter back to her seat and they continued breakfast with a Hermione they had missed the past few days. Though her usual reserved questions and trivia was now coupled with intensity and excitement they had never seen from her before.

"But Father, how I will I buy my things?" she asked, glancing once again at her supplies list.

"I've already dealt with that, darling. I sent a letter to the Ministry a few weeks ago and your things will be delivered the week before you leave for school. Your mother has also gotten you a full wardrobe of witch's robes along with your school uniform."

Hermione's eyes shined brightly as she thanked her mother. She had never looked so excited in her life.

* * *

 **a/n:** okay so this fic is just a tiny bit self-indulgent. this is a no-war fic. Voldemort died after the first war. no prophecy nothing. I was just wondering what life would be like as a witch who was like "Royal". also I know that life isn't truly like this for people in the peerage. I'm merely romantacizing it for the sake of the story. ALSO do any of you recognize Alnwick castle?


	2. 2

**2**

 **08\. 20. 91**

Madame Gorotsky was unrepentant with Hermione as her lessons drew closer to the end of August. The ballerina made her repeat routines on end, making her memorize every step so she could be able to practice at Hogwarts. At the end of every day, Hermione found herself aching in places she never knew could ache, her feet were always sore from her pointe shoes and hours of dancing that she had to ice them in the evening.

Sir McAllen did not hesitate to push her either, just as stern as the Russian teacher, her oversaw her progress with the piano every morning, insisting that she redo the entire piece if she was ever even a fraction of a second of beat.

The only teacher she had that was lenient with her was Miss Maury, who had never pushed her in her life. The sweet middle aged woman allowed her to sit and paint in the afternoon, as much or as little as she wanted. And if paining wasn't her fancy that day, they would move to another medium. Hermione adored her teacher for the mere fact that her art lessons were the only ones that hadn't changed and hadn't needed changing.

Hermione knew that her father, under strict instructions from her late grandfather, who had brought her up under the impression that she would one day marry Prince William, had arranged with the Hogwarts headmaster a room to be prepared for her so that she could practice in private. She already knew where it would be, an old unused classroom that hidden behind a tapestry. Her father had sent more than sufficient funds for its renovation, and she knew that the large classroom held a small dance studio, a grand piano, and an arts studio.

She was diligent enough and so set in her ways that she was relieved that her schedule would not be changing so much. Besides classes, she was free to do whatever she wanted in her studio. She had already made a planner to map out which days would be spent for which.

Both her ballet and piano instructors expected her to come home from her _'super elite boarding school in Switzerland'_ with a complete recital ready for them.

Hermione hissed as she dipped her toes into the ice water, all the while wondering if she should do a piece from Swan Lake or The Nutcracker when she returned.

* * *

 **09\. 01. 91**

She never imagined saying goodbye would be easy, but neither did she expect her father and mother to tear up as she hugged them farewell. Max was cradled in her other's arms, and Melissa was throwing a tantrum over her leaving. George and Catherine were waiting at their parents' sides with matching sad smiles on their faces.

Her father crouched down so he was level with her, "I hope you love it there, my darling." he choked out, "I wish I could experience this life with you."

Hermione smiled, knowing her father beat himself up over her to no end. "I know, Father." she said softly, "I don't blame you for anything, you know."

The man chuckled, but nodded nonetheless, "I know you'll do well, my darling."

She grinned brightly in affirmation. "I'm going to miss you all so much."

"We're going to miss you too, little love." her mother sobbed.

"I'll be back before you know it." she smiled, before taking the Ministry of Magic provided Auror to take her to King's Cross. "I'm ready, Auror Jenkins."

Hermione held on to the man's hand tightly as she had been instructed, while she clutched the handle of her trunk with the other. The odd sensation of a tightening in her chest overcame her, and it felt as if her very lungs were constricting inside her. Almost as quick as a blink, the sensation ebbed, and the pair were standing on a busy platform, surrounded by people, more than Hermione had ever seen in one place all her life.

"Are you alright, my Lady?" the Auror asked, he had informed them that he himself was Muggleborn, and was honored to be trusted with her secret.

"None of that now, Auror Jenkins." she said, after catching her breath and smoothing down her hair, which had been mercilessly tamed into ringlets that morning. "You may call me Hermione."

"Of course, my - I mean, Miss Hermione." he sputtered, still a bit off put by the young girl's soft, but formal way of speaking. "The entrance to the train is right this way, Miss. May I take your trunk?"

Hermione nodded and smiled in thanks and followed the man as he led her towards one of the open doors. She supposed she was early, there was not as much people as she thought there would be. Auror Jenkins stowed her bags once they had found an empty carriage and helped her inside.

"Thank you, Auror Jenkins, for all your help." she smiled.

"Not a problem, Miss Hermione." he grinned toothily, "Have a nice year at Hogwarts, now."

"I hope I do." she quipped, "Until next time, sir. Please do keep safe."

When the man was finally out of sight, Hermione let out a shaky breath, setting a hand to her chest to try and calm its rapid rise and fall. Her fingers reflexively tangled themselves onto the chain of her locket, the one her father had given her just the night before. It was a golden oval shaped pendant with an ornate Coronet of a Duke engrave on the front - discreet enough to be passed as a pretty trinket.

She finally caught her breath and settled down, watching the students pass by in front of her carriage. Several of them were wearing scarves or pins that depicted their Hogwarts houses, which she had read about in Hogwarts: A History. A pair of red headed boys passed by, jumping on another boy to scare him from behind. She held back a chuckle at their shenanigans and self consciously smoothed down her robes for the sixth time in a row.

A smile edged onto her face as she toyed with the fabric. Her mother had gone a little overboard once she found out about common witchwear. Most of her wardrobe was composed of silks and satins, and a handful winter robes for when the season changed. Just this morning, she had commented on the black and silver accented cashmere robe set that Hermione had chosen for the day. It was something Hermione loved to share with her mother, and they had spent the past week bouncing ideas off one another about fabrics and cuts in their free time. It practically drove her father mad.

"Excuse me, are you alone?"

Hermione startled at the sound, and blinked away from her thoughts to find that someone had slid her compartment door open. It was a pale skinned boy who looked her age, with strikingly silver hair and piercing grey eyes, like her, he was dressed head to toe in black. She noted that unlike the other students she'd seen that day, who had all looked rather casual in jeans and sweaters, this boy was dressed in a suit.

"I am, yes." she said, tipping her head politely, "Would you like a seat?"

"Thank you," he nodded, "I do have a carriage of my own, but I was alone too."

"You're welcome to stay here." she offered, struggling a bit on how to converse with this boy. She noticed a second later that he seemed almost as awkward as she did. He was sitting just as straight as her, hands set properly on his lap, feet the right measure away from her.

"My name is Hermione." she said after a moment.

"I'm Draco." he said.

"After the constellation?" she asked inquisitively, unable to stop herself from asking.

His eyes brightened for a moment, "You know astronomy?"

"Yes, I do," she nodded, "I've studied it quite extensively. When I was younger, my grandfather had me look at the stars until I could tell him what constellation they're from and the mythology behind it, if there was any."

The boy nodded in understanding, "My mother wanted me to learn about them as well. Her whole family has a tradition of naming their children after stars or constellations. Hers was the only name in generations not to."

"Her whole family?" she echoed, "There are only so many stars in the sky. And a few of them have quite horrid names.

Her eyes widened when she realized what she'd said, "Not to pose any offense to your family of course!"

He only chuckled, "It's alright. There have been a few unfortunate names and a few more repeats. I have a great uncle named Betelgeuse and there have been three Siriuses already."

Hermione giggled, "That's so interesting. My father named me after a character of Greek mythology."

"Hermione, daughter of Helen?" he guessed, with a grin.

"I didn't expect you to know." she said smiling.

"Just as I did not expect you to know my constellation." he said, "So, are you a first year?"

"Yes, are you?"

He nodded, "I'm going to be in Slytherin. My entire family has been in Slytherin ever since I can remember. Do you know where you're going to be Sorted?"

"Well, I can't really know for sure, can I? My parents aren't magical, so I don't really know - why are you standing up?" the boy in question had hastily jumped out of his seat, his eyes were wide in shock.

"You're muggleborn?" he said, in disbelief.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with-"

Once again, she was cut off abruptly, "You're _dirty_." he spat venomously.

Her brows rose in surprise, "I beg your pardon?" she asked, horrified by his sudden shift in personality.

"I can't believe I wasted my time here." he sneered, "And here I thought you were alright. Turns out you're nothing but muggle filth."

He swiped the glass door open and shut loudly, leaving her at a loss for words.

 _What in the world had just happened?_

* * *

She had been sitting on one of the boats the large man had led them to for a few minutes, admiring the castle, which, although did not seem as grand as Alnwick, had it's own charm that seemed to draw her in, when two girls, who looked to be twins, approached her.

"Hello, are you alone? May we sit with you?" one of them asked with a bright smile.

Hermione, shy and unsure merely nodded her head shyly.

"I'm Parvati Patil, and this is Padma, my twin sister." the girl said. Her twin smiled at her softly.

"I'm Hermione Granger." she said stiffly, still a bit shell-shocked by what had happened on the train.

"Are you alright?" Parvati asked, noting Hermione's gloom and the stiffness of her posture.

"I-"

"Excuse me, but do you have an extra seat?" a bubbly voice chirped, drawing their attention to the girl standing on the dock. Her straw colored hair was tied in short pigtails and she had a smattering of freckles on her face that only added to her bubbly appearance.

Hermione scooted over, "Oh please, do sit down." she said.

"Thanks." the girl sighed in relief, "I'm Hannah, by the way."

"I'm Parvati, this is Padma, and this is Hermione." piped in the girl.

"Nice to meet you!" the blonde grinned.

"Hermione was just telling us why she looks so glum." Parvati informed, much to her embarrassment, "Which you shouldn't be, you know, it's your first day at Hogwarts!"

"I know," Hermione admitted, "I was quite ecstatic about being here when I was on the train but -"

"But?" Parvati prodded. Hermione spied Padma nudging her sister, as if she herself was used to Parvati's exuberance.

"Well, is there any reason for a wizard to look down on someone for being Muggleborn?" she asked, a frown etched onto her face.

The three other girls exchanged knowing looks of discomfort, "Why'd you say that, Hermione?" asked Padma.

"There this boy on the train who I was having a conversation with but when he found out my parents were muggles, he became so horrid to me."

Hannah sighed, "I'm afraid that's commonplace for certain wizards."

"Not all of use think that way though!" Parvati said forcefully, "Only the really dark families still believe in that. Things like that haven't really mattered since the war."

"The war?" she asked. She wished she had had the time to read the entire History textbook beforehand, it was the only one she hadn't finished reading.

"Itt was lead by someone called Lord Voldemort." said Padma, shuddering at the name, "He was trying to create a world without muggles. He saw them as inferior and thought muggleborns stole their magic from purebloods - that's people who have two magical parent. Our dad says they were all just a bunch of curse-happy zealots."

"That's horrible," Hermione said, "to even suggest that muggles are lesser just because the don't have magic. And if what they're saying is true, how could I have stolen my magic? I've had it ever since I was a baby."

"That's why no one believes it these days." said Hannah, "Voldemort is dead and most of his followers are too, or in Azkaban, or had enough money to bail themselves out. But there aren't many people who think like that anymore."

Hermione sighed just as the boat came to a stop. Padma smiled at her and offered a hand to help her up.

"Don't mind it, Hermione." she said softly, "That boy was just a bully. We're your friends now."

At those words, the young girl perked up immediately. _Friends_. She had _friends_.

Hermione stood next to Padma as the entire first year class was herded into the Entrance Hall by Professor McGonagall, a stern looking with with a severe bun on top of her head.

"That's the boy who was mean to me." Hermione said in a whisper to Padma, who leaned over to spy a glance.

Immediately, her nose crinkled up like she had smelled something horrid, "That's Malfoy." she whispered, "His family's one of the worst there are."

Hermione nodded, avoiding looking at him, choosing instead to focus on Professor McGonagall, who was talking about the Sorting. When the professor left to allow them to settle down, Hermione began smoothing down her school robes anxiously, she knew how the Sorting went, but it still didn't help settle the butterflies in her stomach. It took all her years of learning self-control and discipline not to scream and jump in surprise when about twenty ghosts streamed through the back wall.

She strained to hear what the fat ghost was saying to the students at the front of the group, but before she could hear a word, Professor McGonagall returned.

"Move along now," she said in a sharp voice, "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."

The ghosts all began floating away from the hall one by one.

"Now form a line," Professor McGonagall told them, "and follow me."

As soon as they passed through the great double doors and into the Great Hall, Hermione felt a breath catch in her throat. For all she loved Alnwick castle, Hogwarts' splendor outshone it by a mile. The Great Hall was lit by thousands of floating candles over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. She remembered something she had read and looked up to see a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.

She quickly remembered herself, and placed her attention back to the professor, straightening her back as she did. Professor McGonagall had just set the Sorting Hat on top of a stool. The Hat itself was a sort of a let down, it was patched and frayed and extremely dirty that she worried that her hair might be ruined if she put it on. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

 _"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffis are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _if you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on!_

 _Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

When the applause quieted after a minute, Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a long scroll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

Hermione smiled in encouragement as Hannah left their little group to hesitantly stumble out of the line to the front. She put on the hat, which comically fell right down over her eyes as she took a seat. A moments pause -

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat. The table to the right exploded in applause as Hannah scurried over to join them.

When "Finnegan, Seamus." was Sorted into Gryffindor almost instantaneously, Hermione was almost itching with anticipation.

"Granger, Hermione!" the professor announced.

Hermione took a small breath and stepped out of line. All her years of walking with heavy tomes on top of her head seemed to narrow down into that one moment as she walked towards the front. Her footfalls were practically silent as she took her seat, placing her hands lightly over her the other, and crossing her ankles. The hat was placed on her head and she waited.

"Why _hello_ , my Lady," the hat said in a small voice in her ear. Hermione almost startled at the use of her title. "Don't you worry, the bird told me about you. Now … you have a good sense of loyalty about you … but no, you have trouble being open, don't you? Hmm, tempting, it seems as though all you want is … but no, I can't ignore such a great mind, and what talent! I think I know …

"RAVENCLAW!"

Hermione exhaled a breath she hadn't known she was holding and held her head high as McGonagall removed the hat from her head. The Ravenclaw table was still clapping for her as she approached. She awkwardly took her seat on the bench next to a yellow haired girl with a prefect's badge pinned to her robes.

"Hi, I'm Penelope Clearwater." the older girl smiled, "Welcome to Ravenclaw."

"Thank you." Hermione said softly, before drawing her attention back to the front of the Hall.

When Padma was sorted into Ravenclaw instead of Parvati, Hermione was ashamed that she was a bit relieved. She sensed Padma was the calmer one of the two twins, and she was still anxious about trying to be friendly. She grinned as the other girl sat next to her with a large smile on her face. The last of the students, "Zabini, Blaise" was sorted into ravenclaw, and the headmaster announced the start of the meal with a few odd words.

"Headmaster Dumbledore was the wizard who killed Voldemort." Padma whispered to her as they scooped food onto their plates.

"Is he very powerful?" Hermione asked, looking at the wizened headmaster.

Padma nodded vigorously, "One of the most powerful wizards in this century."

Hermione hummed in understanding, taking a bite of her mashed potatoes that she couldn't help but compare to Leopold's. She missed home already.

Thought of the castle reminded her that she would be resuming her practices the next day, immediately after classes. Her Ravenclaw schedule that Penelope had handed her said that Monday mornings were vacant for them until ten o'clock, when they would be starting Herbology. She already planned to wake up at dawn to get ready and sneak into her secret room by the statue of Rory the Reaper, which, was an odd image of a farmer holding overgrown sickle.

"Aren't you excited about Herbology tomorrow?" asked Padma.

"I'll tell you what's exciting," said the curly haired redhead in front of them, Hermione thought she had heard him say his name was Kevin. "Quidditch on Thursday."

Hermione frowned, she had read about the basics of the sport, but couldn't grasp why it was so popular. She couldn't even begin to imagine herself on a broom.

"I hate flying." Padma frowned. "Heights make me queasy."

Kevin tsked, "Every witch and wizard has to at least _know_ how to fly."

"I never said I didn't know how." Padma bristled, "I just rather staying on the ground and cheering."

" _I'm_ trying out for the Ravenclaw team as soon as I can." said a rather pompous sounding boy whose cherubic face was framed by gold waves.

Hermione raised a brow at Padma, who giggled at the girl's response.

* * *

 **a/n:** The quick responses I've received have all been so lovely! I'm planning to keep this story short and sweet, so I'll probably be done by the end of December. Also, I forgot to ask in my last update, but what do you guys think about The Crimes of Grindelwald? Besides the whole McGonagall is a time traveller plot hole. I was so shocked that I completely ignored my date for the rest of the day because I was trying to wrap my mind around it. It _also_ may have given me an idea for a Hermione x Newt story that I have in the making.


	3. 3

**3**

 **09\. 04. 91**

"I've been flying ever since I could." came the loud, obnoxious voice of Draco Malfoy from the opposite work table to hers. It irked her to no end that she and Entwhistle had been placed at the table facing Malfoy and Goyle's.

"My father's just bought me the Nimbus 2000, I bet I could beat anyone here at a match." the boy said proudly.

Hermione frowned, "Why does having a better broom matter so much?" she whispered to her partner, "Talent is indispensable, no matter what the sport is. A prize stallion is worthless if its rider doesn't know how to steer the reins."

"What was that, Granger?" sneered Malfoy from the other table.

"Nothing, Malfoy," she sniffed prissily, "I was just saying that anyone can have a good broom, but it doesn't matter if they don't have a lick of talent in their bones. Honestly, you sound so horribly nouveau riche, with all the bragging you're doing Malfoy."

"My family goes back three centuries, Granger. We're anything but nouveau." he growled.

"Mine goes back nine hundred years." she said matter-of-factly. "So you're still nouveau compared to me."

"Silence!" snapped Professor Snape at the teachers table, making them all fall quiet.

* * *

Hermione eyed the dormant broomstick warily. If her father had had his way, she would be sitting out of the class, away from the risk of falling twenty feet from a broom. In her mind, she had taken to chanting that it was just like riding a horse, except it was a broom, and it had no reins, and was a hundred percent more dangerous.

The rest of the first year class was lined up around her, in varying states of enthusiasm. She could see Ernie Macmillan at the end of the line looking like he was close to an apoplectic fit from all the waiting.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch, a silver haired woman with brilliant green eyes, "and say UP!"

"UP!" everyone shouted around her while she said it half-heartedly.

The broom only twitched a little, but other than that, stayed motionless on the grass. Looking around, she saw most of the class hadn't gotten it on the first try either. Choruses of even more "Up's!" arose from the group, and when all of the class finally had their brooms in hand, Madam Hooch ordered them to get on and hover.

Filled with doubt, she put a leg over the broom and held it as it hovered under her. Just as her feet began to lift off the ground, Madam Hooch called for everyone to stop.

"Come back, boy!" shouted the gameskeeper. Hermione's attention was then drawn to a Gryffindor boy, who she had heard the others call 'Navel?'. The boy was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. His scared white face could be seen even from the ground a his broom wavered unsteadily - and WHAM - a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap.

Madam Hooch quickly walked to the groaning boy, "Broken wrist," they heard her mutter "Come on, boy - it's all right, up you get."

She turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

As soon as the two were out of earshot, Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins broke into laughter.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?" Malfoy howled.

"Shut up, Malfoy." snapped Parvati, who had been standing next to the injured boy.

Hermione drowned them out as one girl taunted Parvati. Her eyes drawn to a shining orb on the grass. Right before she could mention to Anthony Goldstein, who stood beside her, it caught Malfoy's eye.

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

"Give that here, Malfoy." said Harry Potter.

Padma had told her all about Harry Potter, and how his parents had sacrificed their lives to save him in the last days of Voldemort's terror. The orphaned boy had been adopted by his godfather right after, but the infamy of having his parents be the last people killed by the Dark Lord stuck with him.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree?" Malfoy said, smiling nastily.

"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"

"Are they allowed to do that?" she hissed to Anthony, who was busy watching the two boys zip through the air.

"I reckon they aren't." Anthony said, "But Potter can sure fly. Oh, look at that!"

Hermione turned to watch just in time to see Potter lunge for the Rememberall, catching it right as it was about to drop just a foot from the ground.

"HARRY POTTER!"

They all turned to see a frazzled looking Professor McGonagall running toward them. Hermione hid a smirk, although she was glad that Potter had retrieved the Rememberall, she hated when rules were broken. The whole class watched as the professor led Potter back into the castle.

Padma approached her friend as the chatter and excitement died down. Madam Hooch still hadn't come back, so they were all just waiting around in groups.

"So, how did you like your first try at flying, Hermione?" asked her friend. The rest of the Ravenclaws turned to listen in.

"I can't decide for sure, since it was only really a second in the air," she smiled honestly, "But I think I'd much rather ride my horse than a broom."

"You ride horses?" Kevin asked, eyes wide.

"I do," she said, grinning proudly, "I've had Frost, my horse, ever since I was a little girl."

A huff sounded from one of the other Ravenclaw girls.

"Is something wrong, Lisa?" she asked, frowning at the blonde. The other girl hadn't talked to her very much, even though they shared a dorm, and always seemed so cold towards her.

"Oh, it's nothing," Lisa said, "I just find it hard to believe that you have a horse, is all. They're incredibly expensive, you know."

Hermione frowned even deeper, "Yes, I know, but Frost was a gift from my grandfather."

Turpin rolled her eyes, "You expect us to believe that?"

"Are you suggesting that I'm lying?" she said, taken aback.

"Of course not, I'm just saying that it's a nice story." the snooty girl said.

Hermione's eyes narrowed with barely concealed rage. It took all she had to turn to Padma calmly and say she was going to the loo. Once she and her friend had entered the castle, she let out an angry huff. Her temper wasn't one she could control even at the best of times, but for the sake of her image, she had to reel it in. It wouldn't do well to throw a tantrum and expose herself.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Padma asked.

"I'm fine." she sighed, "I just don't understand why Lisa would think that I'm lying."

Padma patted her shoulder consolingly, "She's just jealous, Hermione. Don't let her get to you."

"But that doesn't mean she can be so horrid to me." Hermione pouted.

"It's just the way it is." Padma said sadly, "It doesn't matter anyway. Lisa hasn't really made any friends since the start of school, so I don't think anyone will believe all that poppycock. You've been so nice to everyone, really, and you haven't given us a reason to think you're lying at all. I for one, don't think you are. I'm sure Lisa was just making things up. How much can horses be, really?"

Hermione bit her lip, "I -I'm not sure, but I think I heard my father sell one of our prized stallions for two thousand pounds which is about a hundred and fifty or so galleons?"

Padma's eyes seemed to widen in alarm, "Oh! Well, I - I wasn't expecting that." she said, chuckling, "Well, never mind that, it's almost time for Charms."

* * *

 **09\. 19. 91**

Hermione walked into the Great Hall after getting ready for the day, she had sneaked in an hour of ballet practice before breakfast and was planning on another hour during her break after lunch. Joining Padma at the Ravenclaw table, she poured herself a cup of tea. She didn't expect anyone to know what today meant for her, truly, since she hadn't told anyone. Which was fine with her, it wasn't much of a big deal.

That train of thought left her as the daily mail owls started flying into the Great Hall. A group of six owls had flown in, carrying with them a large pale blue parcel. Several students turn their heads to see who the recipient was, and when the owls landed right in front of her, she flushed in embarrassment and glee. Neither her father or mother mentioned anything in their last letter to her, and it was a pleasant surprise that they had sent her something.

She plucked the note hanging from the white silk ribbon wrapped around the box.

' _To our dearest Hermione,_

 _Happiest of birthdays, to you. We miss you so much, little love. Your father had Leopold bake a little something for you and your friends - one of your favorites! Have a blessed birthday, dearest._

 _Love,_

 _Mother_

She smiled happily, setting the note aside to open up her present.

"Hermione!" Padma gasped, "You didn't tell me it was your birthday!"

She smiled sheepishly, "It slipped my mind?"

Padma shook her head, but grinned nonetheless, "Well, happy birthday, then! Go on, open your present, everyone's waiting!"

Hermione paused in her unwrapping to see that most of her friends had stopped in the middle of her meal to find out what she had gotten. A chorus of 'Happy Birthday!" was heard as they realized they had been found out. She let out a bout of thanks and resumed untying the pretty bow on top of the box. When it was undone, the four sides of the box fell open to reveal dozens of pink religieuse pastries on top of a two tiered crystal serving tray. Under the pastries were two smaller presents waiting to be opened.

She slid the presents out from under the serving tray, and onto her lap, and placed the pastries in the middle of the table, smiling at the surrounding students, who were eyeing the pink and gold confections in awe.

"Would you like some?" she asked, "Mother told me they were meant for sharing."

"What are they?" asked Mandy Brocklehurst, one of her dorm mates who was quickly becoming known for her hip length, raven colored hair.

"Religieuse pastries," Hermione replied, "they're basically cream puffs with rose petal icing and sugar pearls."

"Can we really have some?" asked Terry Boot, who was gazing at the pastries longingly.

"Of course," she grinned, "I can't possibly finish it myself."

The other Ravenclaws grinned at her thankfully and suddenly in was a flurry of hands as they all clambered to get a cream puff. Shocked, Hermione leaned back, never having seen such atrocious manners. When the chaos subsided, and just a few pastries were left on the tray, Padma laughed at Hermione's look of shock.

"Come on, Mione, you still have two more presents to open!" the other girl said, pointing at the boxes in her lap.

Hermione grinned at her friend, and proceeded to carefully unwrap the gifts. She pulled out a pair of deep blue and bronze silk robes from the bigger box, knowing immediately that it was from her mother.

"Those are _beautiful_." Padma gasped, touching the cloth, enamored.

Hermione smiled, "They're from my mother. She loves that wizarding clothing is so different from muggle clothing. She was playing around with different designs over the summer. I told her our house colors the moment I was Sorted."

"I've never see robes like that at Madam Malkin's." Mandy said, finishing off the last of her cream puff.

"No, I don't think you would." Hermione nodded, "Mother's a bit picky about clothes. She has someone make them for her, I think. I've never thought to ask."

She set aside the large box, and began opening the smaller one, smiling happily at its contents - a new set of oil paints and brushes.

"You paint, Hermione?" asked Padma in surprise.

"Yes, but I haven't really found the time recently." she lied, thinking about the unfinished painting in her secret studio.

"That's too bad." Padma frowned.

"Lisa?" Hermione called to the girl on the opposite side of the table, "Didn't you get a pastry?"

The girl in question had had her eyes narrowed at the almost empty tray of cream puffs for the past five minutes. Hermione hadn't seen her take one. Even though the girl had been quite rude to her ever since, Hermione wasn't one to hold grudges easily.

"I don't want one." Lisa huffed, crossing her arms.

"Why not? Are you allergic?" asked Hermione worriedly.

"No," Lisa spat, "I just don't fancy my friendship bought over by a few fancy pastries."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock, "I - I'm not trying to buy anyone off!"

Lisa sneered, "It seems that way to me, little Miss Perfect, but I think you're forgetting that I'm a Muggleborn too. Am I supposed to believe you're so incredibly fancy when your parents are _dentists?"_

Hermione gulped, trying not to express the horror she felt. Had she already been found out?

"Remember what I said Hermione." Padma whispered, "Don't let her get to you."

She nodded stiffly, but stood none the less, her bofy felt like lead standing up.

"I'm just going back to the tower." she said lamely, "Excuse me,"

"I'm _telling_ you." she heard Lisa say as she walked away, "She's lying to all of us."

As she walked out of the Great Hall, busy trying to tamp down the feeling of unease at how careless she had been, she never noticed the calculating pair of silver eyes that had been following her every move since the owls had brought in the extravagant birthday present into the room.

* * *

 **a/n:** this story is beginning to sound very self-indulgent. it makes me cringe when I re-read it to edit.

 **edit** : thank you dannyderailed for pointing out a historical error! Slight oversight in that I forgot to doublecheck before posting the chapter.


	4. 4

**4**

 **12\. 20. 91**

The crisp December morning found Hermione brushing down Frost, her Palomino mare, after a ride around the castle. Every morning since the break had started, she took the horse for out for an hour or so. It had taken Frost a few days to warm up to her after being neglected for months by her owner.

If she was being truly honest with herself, she was quite relieved to spend time with Frost, rather than jump into her lessons immediately. Upon her return home, she had been quickly reminded of how big the castle truly was, and how empty it could feel with just her family and the servants. Her siblings kept her company most days, when she wasn't busy being whipped into shape by her mentors. Their endless supply of questions about Hogwarts and magic could not be lessened, nor helped.

Tales of the past few months were repeated on end, even her parents asked her time and time again to share her experiences, and she was all too happy to do so, but the heavy sense of loneliness began to fill her quickly as the days passed, and she found herself wishing time to go faster.

Padma had been her only constant friend, but that was fine with her, the rest of her house remained good acquaintances, but none had taken the leap to actually befriend her, most certainly not Lisa Turpin, who after her birthday, grew even colder to Hermione.

She had had to dig herself out of the grave she had dug for herself quickly, and had kept her stories about home to a bare minimum. And because she had done so, Lisa had seemed to presume that her assumptions about Hermione telling tall tales were true. Hermione quickly found a bully in Lisa Turpin, and no matter how much Padma urged her to turn the other cheek, her anger was felt to the bone. It annoyed her greatly that she could not debunk Lisa's theories, and her annoyance stoked the flames of Lisa's fire even more.

Even thinking about it brought an angry red glow to Hermione's cheeks, which drew a pained whinny from Frost, who had been on the receiving end of her not so gentle brush strokes.

"Shhh," Hermione soothed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

A glare from the horse brought Hermione to giggles.

"Oh, don't give me that look, I'm going through some stuff, alright?" Hermione said, patting the horse affectionately before closing the stable up. It was almost time for her lessons again.

* * *

 **10\. 07. 92**

Hermione dusted of her work gloves, sending a sprinkling of dirt into the pot. They were preparing to pot a few dittany cuttings for the infirmary. She glanced at her partner, a chatty golden haired Hufflepuff named Justin Finch-Fletchley.

"You're muggleborn too, aren't you?" he asked. "How'd your parents take it?"

She shrugged, "They were nonplussed. We all knew what was happening to me wasn't normal. When I got my letter, it was just a confirmation of our suspicions, I think."

"My mum took it hard, my name was down for Eton, you know."

Hermione hummed in mildly hidden disinterest.

"What's Eton?" asked Ernie Macmillan, a pureblood from Justin's house.

"It's a very prestigious muggle boys school." Hermione said softly.

"Where were _you_ supposed to go to school, Hermione?" asked Lisa, trying to prod Hermione.

She merely shrugged, "It doesn't matter now, does it?"

"Exactly, so why don't you tell us, hmm?" asked Lisa, "Cheltenham? Roedean?"

Hermione shook her head, "Why do you want to know, Lisa? Where were you up for?"

Lisa shut up quickly, "I asked first." she said stubbornly.

Hermione rolled her eyes, keeping her focus on the dittany.

* * *

 **10\. 18. 93**

It was her brother's birthday the next day, and she had been feeling melancholy the entire week. She always kept to herself whenever one of her siblings were having birthdays during the school year. This time around, she had secluded herself for the past two days in her studio, coming out only for classes and meals. Padma left her alone, for the most part, her best friend understood that she was missing her family.

She had missed most of her family's birthdays for the past three years, and it weighed on her heavily. Her father had always used to pull her brothers and sisters out of classes so the family could spend the day together when they were younger, but that was in the past. All Hermione could do now was send presents through owl.

What ran through her mind though, was how fast her little brother Max was growing. He was three now, and he had gone through most of his important milestones without her to see them. It was one of the things that made her resent her magic, at least Melissa she had seen grow, George and Catherine were living in London while she was hidden in Alnwick for most of her younger years. The thought of it made her grip the paint brush in her hand so tightly that the wood bent with her exertion.

She let out an angry sigh, glaring at the portrait in front of her. It was supposed to be her sister Catherine's Christmas present, a painting of the lake surrounded by the Forbidden Forest. At ten years old, the second youngest Percy would still pepper Hermione with questions about Hogwarts whenever she was home, comparing the magic school to her own posh boarding school.

A knock on her studio door sounded, making her tense. With trepidation making her heart beat rise in her chest, she pried the door open to find the headmaster, eyes twinkling brightly down at her, waiting.

"Headmaster Dumbledore!" she said, alarmed, "Is there anything I can do for you, sir?"

Dumbledore smiled , but shook his head no, "I am merely here to inform you that it is close to midnight, my dear, and should Mr Filch find you on your way back to your tower, it would be unpleasant indeed."

She caught the curious look in his eyes as he glanced around the large room. The blush that spread across her face was one of embarrassment. The studio was a bit of a mess, with sheet music spread across the piano, and paint staining a portion of the floor.

"It seems as though you have been busy, Lady Percy." the wizened wizard said.

"Yes sir," she replied, "I've been in a bit of a cathartic rage for the past few days. I'm sorry about staying past curfew, the time slipped by me."

Dumbledore looked at her knowingly, "Gather your things, my lady, I will walk with you to your tower."

Hermione quickly summoned her bag - a spell she had learned only recently through her advanced studying.

"That's a sixth year spell, is it not?" Dumbledore asked, knowing full well that it was.

Hermione nodded, "I've been reading and practicing, sir."

"How are you finding Hogwarts, if I may ask?"

"I love it here, sir," she admitted, "although I still find it difficult to adjust. But it's lovely here, I finally have people I can talk to."

"I see," the Headmaster noted, "and have you had any trouble with maintaining your secret?"

"Not as much, Headmaster." she said, though the thought of Lisa Turpin crossed her mind, "Sir, can I ask you a question?"

Seeing the old man's nod, she said, "Do you think that, maybe one day, the magical world may assimilate with the muggle world?"

"It is a question I ask myself every now and then as well, child. I hope in time, that we do, but a few wizarding folk still maintain scepticism about the benefits of it, as well as ideals that separate magical beings from muggle."

Hermione quieted at that, now thinking of Draco Malfoy, who still sent her sneers and biting words every time she passed him in the halls.

"Your silence worries me, Lady Percy, have you been subjected to any form of discrimination here in Hogwarts?" Dumbledore asked, eyes flashing.

Hermione bit her tongue, "Nothing too harsh, Headmaster. Just a few remarks here and there."

The man sighed heavily, "Do not hold them to their words, my dear. They are young, and eager to please their parents. People are that way because they are taught to become that way. There is still hope for them yet."

"Do you really think so, Headmaster?" she asked, "Can years of being taught to hate be truly erased?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said with an air of finality, "It is difficult, because purebloods have been taught certain ways ever since their birth, but it is possible."

The sneering face of Draco Malfoy sat on the back of her mind as the Headmaster led her onward.

* * *

 **10\. 31. 93**

Hermione woke Padma with a light shake on the morning of Halloween day. It was just after eight in o'clock and she had already been awake for two hours, having squeezed in a quick ballet session before getting ready.

"Pads, wake up!" she said softly, "It's Hogsmeade weekend!"

The girl woke groggily, blinking at her friend angrily, "What time is it?"

"Around eight," Hermione said straightening her dress. "Come on! I've already showered and changed."

The sleep left Padma's eyes as she eyed her friend up and down. Hermione was quite pretty today. She only really saw her in their uniform, nightgowns, and casual wear, but today, the girl was dressed in a burnt orange silk dress that matched the leaves turning for autumn, the matching cashmere cloak was lying on her bed, with the faux fox fur collar peeking out from the blankets. Her wild hair was set back with a black silk headband and she wore a set of diamond studs encased in gold that blinked in the morning light.

"You look amazing, Hermione." Padma said.

Hermione grinned in thanks, "Is it too much? I got these sent from Madam Malkin's over the summer."

"No, you look like a pureblood." Padma said, stepping out of bed. She saw the smile waver from her friend's face. "It's not a bad thing, love. I just mean it in a way that makes you look distinguished."

Hermione nodded, "Go on then! I want to see the village now before it gets crowded."

"Alright, alright, go wake Su, then." Padma said, walking towards the bathroom.

Hermione woke her other friend, who got up quickly to get ready. She made sure not to wake Turpin, who was snoring heavily from her bed on the opposite side of the room.

Padma and Su came out a few moments later, the former in a long brown sweater dress, and Su in black jeans and a black jumper.

The two girls took their time to brush their hair and dig around their dressers, not saying a word while doing so. Finally, when Hermione couldn't bear it any longer, she bounced up from her bed, where she was sitting.

"Are you girls ready yet?" she hissed impatiently.

The two witches erupted in a fit of giggles.

"Are you finished?" Hermione asked, her hands on her hips.

"We didn't think you'd last that long!" Su gasped, clutching her side.

Hermione huffed, "Well, if you're quite done, let's go!"

Hogsmeade Village, for the past two years had all just been a sight to see from the Astronomy Tower. The sleepy little town a ways down from the castle had always intrigued her. She had never been to any other part of the Wizarding World aside from Hogwarts and that one time Padma had invited her to Diagon Alley over the summer.

The walk to the village was long, the girls enjoying their walk down. She had cast several heating charms over her robes and stockings, to fight away the chill of the early autumn air.

"Where should we go first?" Su asked brightly. Her bright personality was one of the things that had helped their friendship grow over the years. Hermione, still quite unused to socialising, had been happy to find that Su somehow understood her awkwardness.

"What about Tomes and Scrolls?" Hermione sounded, "I've been waiting for the newest edition of ' _The Value of Seven'_ , Professor Vector said that it has a dozen new chapters about new Arithmancy theorems."

"Oh! And I want to see if ' _The Alchemist's Almanac'_ is out yet!" Padma said excitedly.

"How utterly Ravenclaw of us to go to the _bookshop_ on our first trip to Hogsmeade." Su said, rolling her eyes.

Hermione laughed, "We were sorted where we are for a reason, Su. No logic in fighting it."

The girl sighed, rolling her eyes at her friends, " _Fine_ , but after we pick up your books, we're heading another place _immediately_. I'm not wasting our weekend in a bookshop. We spend enough time around books already."

It was almost cathartic for Hermione to be in such a public place, even if it was the tiny town of Hogsmeade. It was only very rarely that she was in such a place as this one. Alnwick and Hogwarts were very much the same in the way that they were looming buildings that , though they were beautiful, carried an ever present feeling of loneliness with them.

She laughed, the sound a soft ringing that had been practiced to perfection, as Su came out of the shop's dressing room with a feather boa wrapped around her neck over a brilliantly bright pink dress. Padma merely rolled her eyes at their friend's antics, all too familiar with them.

"Aren't you two hungry?" she asked, "We've been here for ages and Hermione took _forever_ in the bookstore."

"Speak for yourself!" Hermione scoffed, "We had to pry your hands off of the Herbology section ."

Padma stuck out her tongue in response.

"I'm starved." Su said, stepping out in her normal clothes. "Where should we go?"

"The Three Broomsticks seems like the place to be." Hermione said, "Hold on a moment, I just have to get something rung up."

"You're buying something, Hermione?" Su asked, eyes widening fractionally.

They had only entered the little boutique for the heck of it. It was a little too, erm _posh_ , for a student's allowance. But Su supposed that if anyone could get anything from the shop, it was Hermione.

The two witches watched their friend point to two things in the glass case next to the register, a pair of twinkling Opaleye scale earrings and a goblin wrought gold chain necklace.

"Hermione, are you _sure_?" Padma asked, dumbfounded.

The girl blinked in confusion, "Yes! They're quite beautiful, and I think they'll be the perfect presents for my mother and sister."

The woman at the till looked at the three girls with vaguely concealed suspicion. "That'll be a hundred and fourteen galleons."

Hermione nodded before reaching into her tote, pulling out two small purses bulging with coins. The three people surrounding Hermione had their jaws wide open.

"There's a hundred and twenty in there all in all. If I leave the change, can you wrap the items and send it by Christmas?"

The clerk nodded absently, taking the purses gingerly to place inside the till.

"Thank you." Hermione nodded, after jotting down her address.

The bell on the shop door chimed as the three girls left.

"What in Merlin's name are you thinking, witch?" hissed Su, "Carrying around a bankfull of money around like it's spare change!"

"What do you mean?" Hermione frowned.

"Hermione, no one lugs around a hundred galleons in their bag." Padma said softly.

"But I can't very well use my credit card, can I? How else am I to pay for things?" she asked.

"Well, students don't usually have that much money, love, nor do they buy things that expensive." Padma said.

"How much should I bring, then?" Hermione asked, dumbfounded.

"A handful of galleons is more than enough, Hermione." Su said, "It'll buy you loads of stuff."

"Alright, I'll remind myself next time, then." Hermione said, as they made their way to the pub.

Draco feigned disinterest in the conversation behind him. The pub was busy, and the loud thrum of chatter filled every space, but somehow the Gryffindor chits Brown and Patil could be heard loud and clear. He had been talking to Zabini when their conversation shifted dramatically with the arrival of that Mudblood, Granger.

" _Do you see what she's wearing, Parv?" Brown squealed, "It must have cost a fortune to have robes like that made. Silk like that has to be charmed specifically for autumn, did you know?"_

" _And her coat! It's obviously cashmere." Patil said with a hint of jealousy. "Isn't she worried she's going to ruin it?"_

 _Brown snorted, "Right, like Granger would care about that. Didn't your sister say her parents are filthy rich?"_

" _Yeah, Pads even thinks she has more money than the Malfoys."_

 _That_ comment made Draco sit up straight rather quickly. It wasn't possible for _anyone_ to be richer that him. Even his gold had gold.

He surveyed the crowded pub to find the witch in question. Sure enough, her clothing was impeccable. Much to his annoyance, it was something his mother would wear.

He knew for a fact that Narcissa had the exact same coat, except in Slytherin green. He also knew that every item in his mother's wardrobe cost a small fortune, it was something his father complained about to no end.

But that didn't mean she was richer than him. Her family might have a little money, but no muggle family could compare to the Malfoys.

* * *

 **a/n:** Terribly sorry for my absence! I've been so busy lately that I barely found the time for this! I hope you guys liked this, also a bunch of things are happening in the next chapter, and I'm excited to have you read it! Also, do any of you guys have suggestions for Hermione-centric Xovers for me to read? I have been wanting to do a crossover super badly lately.


	5. 5

**5**

 **06\. 14. 94**

Alcohol poisoning, the doctors said.

Her Uncle Henry, the 11th Duke of Northumberland had succumbed to it after indulging in one too many bottles of champagne and wine. Her father said the maids had found his brother lying face-down on his bed, stone still and blue. The coroner had told them he had been dead for hours before that.

And so Hermione found herself next in line for the duchy of Northumberland. Even though she would never inherit the title, technically, since she wasn't supposed to exist. She did not shirk from the responsibilities expected of her though, her siblings were far too young to deal with the death of their uncle.

Her father had balked at her volunteering to help with the funeral preparations at first, saying that she too, was too young, but after a long debate, he had relented and allowed her to take a small weight off his shoulders.

Henry Percy's funeral was held on a gloomy Sunday in June. Earlier in the day, the castle had been opened to the public for the final viewing before her was laid to rest, and as the hour approached, the people not invited to the funeral ceremony were ushered out. Noble men and women filed into the chapel behind the castle while Hermione kept her head down. George fidgeted in his seat in the pews next to her, obviously uncomfortable in his black mourning suit.

She did her best not to draw attention. If her identity ever came up, her father introduced her as a cousin or some other visiting for the summer. She held onto Melissa's hand tightly as they marched to the family cemetery behind the church, and kept Max close to her as their Uncle was lowered into the earth. Each of them then took turns in throwing a flower onto the coffin. She whispered a small prayer to the lily before tossing it gently onto the chestnut coffin, a tear escaping her eye in the process.

As the funeral party was ushered back into the castle for the wake, she left her siblings to one of the maids and went off to find her father, who was meeting mourners at the door of the castle. She stood quietly behind him, watching as he greeted everyone. Each face was familiar to her, having been ingrained into her memory since she was a child.

Finally, she watched with bated breath as Queen Elizabeth approached, following her father's lead, she fell into a curtsy as he bowed.

"My condolences to you, Lord Percy." the queen said regally.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Henry will be remembered well." her father said.

The queen nodded, then Hermione held her breath as the woman's piercing blue eyes landed on her. To be observed by one of the world's most powerful leaders was something Hermione was not accustomed to, and she kept herself from reacting as the queen looked her over appraising lay, from her black suede kitten heels to her ebony lace day dress, and the mass of dark curls her maid had pinned down that morning.

"Is this your daughter, Lord Percy?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Yes, Your Highness, my daughter, Hermione." Ralph said proudly.

The queen nodded, "Pretty, and intelligent too, I hear. Pity, I would have agreed with you father, were he still alive. She would have made a fine bride to William. Unfortunate that circumstance is not in our favor."

Hermione forced herself not to allow her face to betray her shock. _Of course_ the queen would know she had magic. The woman left a few moments later, her guards following behind her.

" _Hermione?"_ a voice called from behind her.

She immediately stiffened at the sound. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she was met by a familiar face. The sandy haired boy was approaching her quickly, he himself clad in a dark suit that seemed so odd from how she usually saw him at Hogwarts.

"Hermione?" her father's voice called, "I'd like for you to meet James Finch, a good friend of your Uncle Henry's. James, this is my niece Hermione."

She watched as Justin's steps faltered and followed the movement of his lips as they mouthed the word 'niece' wordlessly.

"Hermione? Who is this?" Ralph asked just as the man next to him said, "Justin, do you know Lady Hermione?"

Hermione winced, looking back at her father, "We attend school together." she said softly, watching as the confusion cleared from both men's faces.

"James, may I speak with you for a moment?" asked Ralph as he led the man aside, shooting his daughter a pointed look. She nodded in understanding, then faced the still shocked Hufflepuff.

"Will you walk with me, Justin?" Hermione said as the men took their leave.

Hermione was pleased to find that even though the boy remained in a stunned silence, he retained his manners, offering his arm to her. She took it, leading him down the path towards the stables.

"How did you know my uncle? " she asked, breaking the silence.

"He and my father shared a room at Eton for years, he considered Lord Percy his best friend." Justin said.

"You're probably bursting with questions right now." she said softly, watching him from the corner of her eye.

Justin cleared his throat, "I don't quite understand the situation, honestly. You're Lady Percy? But you have a different name."

Hermione let out a soft laugh. "It's a mess, really, and a horror to explain. The gist of it all is that the Ministry of Magic intervened when I was born. I was a threat to the State of Secrecy, you see? So they kept my birth a secret and well, my entire existence as well."

"But why do you have to keep the secret at school?" the boy asked, "Turpin would eat her words if she knew about this."

Hermione huffed, "Lisa is the least of my problems." she said, "I have to keep it a secret because the Ministry thinks that if muggleborns at Hogwarts knew that a duchess was a witch, word would somehow reach the general public about a secret child of the Percy family. The Ministry can't quite trust eleven year olds to keep their word, can they?"

"But wouldn't the Statute of Secrecy apply to them as well?"

"Yes, but what if they told their parents? That's allowed. Then what if their parents told other people? It's a scandal in the making." she said disdainfully.

"That's horrible for you, then. So what, did you grow up alone?" he asked, pity coloring his words.

Hermione nodded, "I was tutored privately. Grew up here at the castle with my grandfather. Godfrey! Heel!"

"Christ!" Justin exclaimed, dropping her arm in surprise, "That's an enormous dog!"

"He's harmless!" Hermione laughed, "Godfrey, this is my friend, Justin. Justin, meet Godfrey. Sorry, her isn't used to strangers." The large dog growled quietly, watching the boy next to her with distrust in his eyes.

"He looks like he might eat me." the Hufflepuff said worriedly.

Hermione laughed, "I promise he won't. Come, Godfrey, we're on our way to see Frost, would you like to lead us there?"

The hound barked excitedly, then bounded off in the direction of the stables, stopping at the entrance to sit and wait for them patiently.

"Can I trust you to keep this to yourself, Justin?" she said, walking onwards.

"Of course," he said, eyebrows raised, "I wouldn't think of doing anything else."

"Good." she grinned, "Thank you. Do you want to meet Frost?"

"Frost?" he asked absently.

"My horse."

"Oh, I suppose you weren't kidding about that either." he chuckled, "Alright, then."

She led the both of them to Frost's booth, feeding the mare a few sugar cubes before patting her down lovingly.

"Are you ever going to tell your friends about all of this?" Justin asked as Hermione guided him in petting Rey, her brother's stallion.

Hermione nodded, "I was going to ask my father if Padma and Su could visit over the summer, but my Uncle passed so suddenly, so I don't know if it's the right time to ask."

"Of course they may." came the deep timbre of her father's voice from the stable entrance, surprising the two teens.

The new Lord Percy walked closer to them, "You may write to your friends later that they are welcome any time. Your mother and I would love to have them."

Hermione stared at her father in shock, "Are you sure, Father?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Of course, my darling." he nodded, "As long as you are certain they can be trusted."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Hermione pulled him into a tight hug. Justin looked on at the pair awkwardly, feeling as if he were encroaching on a private moment.

"Now, love, why don't you and Justin find your brothers and sisters, or maybe you could show him around the grounds? No need to go back inside for the wake."

"But father-"

"You've done so much already, young lady." her father said sternly, "Give yourself a break."

Hermione smiled at Justin, sharing a look that meant she was sorry for her father, he merely shrugged, offering a grin.

"Alright," she said, "Let's take Godfrey for a walk, I can show you my Potions garden."

* * *

Hermione sat on one of the tables outside the ice cream parlor a little ways down the road from the castle, waiting nervously in the shade the pink patio umbrella provided. The cup of brambleberry ice cream sat on the table melting quickly in the August heat. She had sent Su and Padma the portkeys a week before, and the girls were scheduled to arrive any minute now. She had already politely shooed away a rather insistent boy asking for a date, the ordeal leaving her a little flustered and itching to leave.

One moment later she heard the tell tale thumps of two bodies falling on their bums in the alley next to the ice cream parlor and the sound of excited feet on concrete.

"Hermione!" exclaimed the voices of her closest friends.

She stood quickly, and was soon pulled into a hug. "I missed you!" she said, laughing.

"We missed you too!" the girls chorused.

"Come on,"she grinned, "I'll explain everything on the way."

She ushered the girls into the black town car, closing the door behind her. "We're ready, Peter." she said, sliding the partition open.

"Alright, what's with the secrecy, Mione?" Su asked, pouncing on her friend immediately. "You practically said nothing in your letter! Just that you wanted us over and you had something to tell us."

Hermione breathed out shakily, "I need you to promise that you won't be cross with me, and that you won't tell anyone ever."

Padma and Su shared a look of confusion before nodding.

"I've not been completely honest with you." she said, "My real name is Hermione Percy, and my father is the Lord of Northumberland."

"What does that mean?" asked Padma, frowning.

"It means she's bloody rich, that's what it means!" Su exclaimed, knowingly, since she was a halfblood.

"Not all nobles are rich, Su." Hermione said softly.

"But _you_ are." Su said pointedly.

"Why the secrecy?" asked Padma, brows furrowed in confusion.

Hermione sighed, "The ministry requested it. Legally, I don't even exist."

Her friends smiled at her in understanding, which was more than Hermione could ask for.

"Don't worry, love, we understand." Su said, "It doesn't change anything, really."

Hermione smiled, eyes shining brightly at her two friends, "Merlin, you guys are the best."

"Circe slap me, is that a castle!?" Su exclaimed.

* * *

The two weeks of August Hermione had spent with her best friends had been two of the best weeks of her life. The girls spent the first days with Hermione showing them every inch of the castle, taking about half a day to cover the library alone, then she taught the two witches how to ride on horseback, then she forced the two to join her in ballet lessons for fun. Both Su and Padma had balked at the thought that Hermione still spent an hour practicing ballet and piano at Hogwarts and still had the energy to be top of their class. Madam Gorotsky had cringed at the two newbie ballerinas, but allowed it nonetheless, provided that Hermione spent the last twenty minutes of class presenting a complete routine.

Her siblings had met the arrival of the two witches with endless questions about magical life, much to the girls' amusement, and Hermione's parents had just been glad to see their eldest daughter smiling more so than usual. Ralph Percy, of course had been busy since his brother's death, dealing with everything and anything that came under his responsibility.

Almost quicker than they could imagine, the two weeks had passed and Hermione was saying goodbye to her friends again, promising to meet the two at 9 ¾ the following week. Padma had sworn that she would not tell Parvati a drop of the truth, twisting it to all ends, and Su had promised not to share a word of it to anyone at Hogwarts, especially Lisa Turpin, _even_ if she was being completely horrid.

The day after the girls had left, her mother had arranged for an appointment with a designer for the 'dress robes' that had been listed as a requirement on her Hogwarts list. Su had explained the day the letters arrived that it was just a Wizarding way of saying 'evening gown', and when her mother had heard that, she had almost burst into happy tears. Hermione knew for a fact that the woman had contacted her favorite designer almost immediately.

And thus begun the process of her mother overseeing the mutilation of her eldest daughter's body with needles while her siblings watched in amusement. Hermione winced again as Georgina's assistant once again pricked her, this time on her waist.

"Shut it, you little monster." Hermione hissed at George under her breath, only to receive a snicker from the not-quite-ten year old boy.

"I think emerald, Georgie," her mother said, eyeing Hermione up and down, "do you think she's too young for a tight dress?"

Georgina paused, taking in Hermione's frame, "Did you say she was fifteen, now? How absolutely unfair. I would have killed for those legs at fifteen. No, I don't think it would be too gauche for a tight dress, but let's see, shall we?"

"Mother?" Hermione intervened politely, "Perhaps we could go for a slit, rather than making the entire gown tight? I'd hate terribly to be uncomfortable the whole night."

"Of course, darling," her mother nodded absently.

After spending the entire morning arguing back and forth, the three women finally packed up and finished up. Hermione had thought she would finally be getting a moment's rest but her mother, of course had other plans.

"We have to do something about that hair of yours, love." she tsked, "You get that from your father's side of the family."

"But I like my curls, Mother, and they aren't as bad as they could be. I use Sleekeazy's everyday for it, now." Hermione pouted.

Jane tsked, "Yes, but we can do so much better, love. We aren't taking your curls away, just _taming_ them. Now, come, darling, no time to waste."

"Father's going to hate that you've messed about with my hair again, you know."

"Your Father barely knows how to comb his own hair, Hermione, now get in the car."

" _Yes, mother."_ Hermione grumbled.

* * *

By the time the first of September rolled in, Hermione had finally grown accustomed to her new hair, which now fell in glossy loose waves. She had put her foot down when her mother had started talking about changing her hair color, so the deep chocolate color of her hair remained.

Hermione refrained from tugging at her black and white tweed dress nervously as she and the disguised Auror Jenkins waited for the train to roll in. She kept her head down to avoid attention, knowing full well that Turpin would take the mickey out of her for changing her mess of curls. As a gust of early fall wind blew through the station, she gripped her black robes to stop them from billowing about.

A flash of blonde hair passed by the corner of her eye, drawing her attention to the new arrivals to platform 9 ¾ . Hermione trained her gaze to the family of three as they appeared, eyeing each individual with concealed curiosity.

The man held himself in a way that reminded her of her father's more pompous colleagues. His white blonde hair was held back by a black ribbon, and in his hand was a handsome black cane with a silver snake handle. The woman reminded her of her own mother, funnily enough, with salt and pepper hair arranged neatly in a half chignon. Hermione's eyes widened fractionally when she realized that the woman was wearing a tweed cloak that looked eerily similar to Hermione's dress.

As the woman's eyes fell on her, Hermione met the her gaze steadily, and watched as her red painted lips curled into a small smile of approval. She then turned to the youngest of their group to whisper in the young man's ear. Hermione was then subjected to the piercing weight of Draco Malfoy's stare. Unlike his mother, his lips formed a ugly sneer. Several words were uttered under his breath - all foul, Hermione suspected.

Whatever it was Malfoy said caused the woman to quirk her eyebrows in surprise. And in true Hermione fashion, unable to turn away, she watched the woman as she seemed to admonish her son, who looked at his mother with a shocked expression on his face.

The sound of someone calling her name drew her away from the scene in front of her, and she turned her attention to Su, who was shoving her way quickly through the crowd just as the scarlet train came to a halt in front of the waiting crowd.

"Hello, Su!" Hermione said brightly, exchanging kisses on the cheek with her friend - something that her friends had picked up from her over the summer. "Have you seen Padma?"

"No, she's probably late again, you know how long Parvati takes to get ready." Su said, rolling her eyes, "We should head in though, before the cabins are all taken."

"No need, Auror Jenkins left to stow my trunk in when you came up." Hermione smiled as the man in question reappeared. "Thank you for escorting me once again, sir." she said politely.

"Not a problem, Miss. I've left your things in the third compartment to the left." the man grinned toothily, "I'll be seeing you at the end of May then."

"May, sir? Don't you mean December?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

The man chuckled to himself knowingly, "I'm betting you'll want to stay at Hogwarts the whole year, lass. But if you decide otherwise, I'm sure the Ministry'll be sending me."

Hermione frowned, not knowing what the Auror was talking about, but nodded nonetheless. "Very well, sir. Thank you, again."

With one last grin from the man, she and Su walked across the platform. As they did so, Hermione got the odd feeling that she was being watched, and turned her head slightly to the side to see the Malfoy matriarch observing her discreetly. Hiding the tension that filled her body quickly, she took Su's wrist and led her friend into the train as if nothing was amiss.

Draco entered Platform 9 ¾ in between his mother and father, mildly aware of the attention his family was attracting. He puffed his chest a little, smirking to himself as several first years stared openly at the formidable sight of them.

His father was half a step ahead of him and his mother, so he didn't hear Narcissa as she whispered to Draco under her breath, "Draco, who is that charming young lady over there standing by the pillar in that tweed dress?"

Draco turned his neck to take a peek and was met with sight of warm chestnut eyes. He faltered for a moment at the sight of her, was she taller? And what had she done with her hair? It wasn't quite that god-awful anymore. Realizing he had yet to answer his mother, he sneered, spitting out the first thing to come to his mind.

"No one of importance, Mother, just mudblood filth."

Narcissa frowned, icy blue eyes flashing, "Mind yourself, Draco. Those aren't things you should say, or think for that matter."

Draco looked at his mother in alarm, "But Father says-"

"Your father," Narcissa said slowly, eyeing her husband, who was in the middle of a conversation with Aldous Greengrass, "is a man stuck in the past. It's high time we set those antiquated views aside."

"But Mother, even you've said that -"

"I was wrong," Narcissa said, cutting off her son with a sharp look that turned hazy, as if she were remembering something, "your father and I are not without fault, Draco. I have come to terms with my previous errors, though it seems your father and a few others need more time to do so."

Draco felt as if the proverbial rug had been pulled from under his feet. He waited for his mother to laugh, to smirk and tell him he was joking, but he knew better than that - Narcissa Malfoy did not joke. She held her gaze, as if she knew her words would unnerve her son - and rightly so! Fourteen years of being taught that mudbloods were abominations, now all of a sudden he was being told that wasn't quite the truth.

"Mother, are you saying that mudbloods -" he faltered at the hardening of his mother's stare, "erm, muggleborns, aren't lesser than us."

"I am saying, Draco, that no one is lesser than us." Narcissa said, "I know this isn't something you were expecting, truly I wished to talk to you before leaving the manor, but your father still has reservations on the mater. The world has changed my son, and I do not wish for you to grow up filled with preconceived hatred for people you've never met. I've failed you for fourteen years, already, and for that I apologize."

"What brought this on, Mother?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"Your Aunt Andromeda reached out to me last year." Narcissa admitted, "We've settled our differences and she has forgiven me. I didn't realize how much I missed my sister until I began spending time with her again. I've met Ted as well, her muggleborn husband. Your father does not fully approve, but he has agreed to meeting Andy next weekend for dinner."

He felt as if someone had taken the world by its axis and spun it like a top. "I - I don't know what to say." he admitted.

Narcissa smiled sadly, "I know this is too much to place on your shoulders now, Draco, but I want to help you see the truth - before the damage was irreversible. There are many things I missed out on as a young girl because of prejudices my parents ingrained to me when I was younger - the same ones Lucius and I passed on to you. It will be difficult, but you'll realize that muggleborns and muggles aren't all that different from you -"

"Cissa." the sharp admonishment came from his father, who had left his conversation to join his family, "What did I say about talking to Draco about this issue before we agreed on it?"

Narcissa glared at her husband, "I don't remember." she said innocently. "Now, Draco, promise me you'll do your best at school this year, my love."

Draco frowned at the swift change in his mother, and the knowing frown on his father's face, "I will, Mother."

Narcissa took him in her arms, "Think about what I've told you." she whispered, before letting him go."

"Good bye, son." Lucius nodded, "Make me proud."

Draco nodded absently, then jumped as the train whistled in warning. He stepped into the train, still in a state of confusion as he began to find his friends. As he walked down the hallway, his eyes paused on the image of Hermione Granger, who was taking off her cloak, as she laughed at something one of her friends said. Her tinkling laugh could be heard even if the door to their compartment was closed.

Draco frowned, quickly making his way down the train, his brain running the memory of his conversation with his mother over and over again frantically.

* * *

 **a/n:** What do you think? I've always been kind of soft for Narcissa, and I think she could be easily swayed out of her beliefs if given the benefit of the doubt, don't you think? I'm not saying she's entirely unbiased, of course, forty or so years of prejudice will do that to you.

Also, I'm immensely excited for the Yule Ball - I absolutely love writing the Goblet of Fire! I'm thinking up her gown based on a Paolo Sebastian couture piece that I adore.

Thank you for the recommendations on Xovers! Honestly love Hermione with GoT pairings.

\- china


	6. 6

**6**

 **10\. 30. 94**

Hermione had her History of Magic essay next to her porridge as she ate - revising at the dining table was one of the many indulgences she allowed herself to have at Hogwarts. Though, she had been forced to take several precautions and spell all her homework and texts to be spell-proof, since a certain _someone_ had recently taken to ruining her hard work every chance they got.

Fortunately for Hermione, that morning was free of any suspicious activity because the entire school was abuzz. Talk of the foreign delegates' arrival had been pondered about for two months, building up into one big mess of excitement. Hermione was quite excited herself, her curiosity was not to be underestimated - she had already read what text was available about the two schools that would be participating alongside Hogwarts for the tournament.

Professor Flitwick had promptly informed them last week about the reason for requirement of dress robes for fourth years and above. He had also told them they would be having dance lessons every Saturday morning from that moment on - to be met by excited twittering from several girls and loud groans from the boys. Hermione had kept her sigh to herself. Ballroom dancing was _not_ something she enjoyed. She much preferred to dance alone.

Her fourth year was turning out to be rather exciting, what with the Triwizard Tournament and also the addition of ex-Auror Alastor Moody as the new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. She had been a little disappointed at Dumbledore's announcement of an age limit for the tournament, but her parents wouldn't have permitted her to place herself in so much danger anyway. When Padma informed her of the number of deaths past tournaments had racked up, she found herself relieved.

What was not relieving however, was the interesting Professor Moody, or Mad-Eye, the infamous nickname her peers were calling him. His teaching method was - to put it nicely - abrasive. His first lessons with them, he had set the Ravenclaws against the Hufflepuffs, paired them off and had them duel one another. Hermione had been bested by Justin, who had lucked out by landing a Tickling Jinx on her. Since that lesson, they had had three more impromptu duels, which Hermione had all won - not for Justin's lack of trying. She, Su, and Padma had been practicing in their spare time.

At first, Moody's paranoia had been odd, but the stories about him had circulated well around Hogwarts, and it was soon public knowledge that he had been the Head Auror during the time Voldemort had waged war - he had locked up several Death Eaters in Azkaban and had overseen most of the Dementor's Kisses administered. That little fact had sent chills running down Hermione's spine when she'd heard it.

Hermione, Su, and Padma made their way to classes for the day - first was Potions with the Slytherins, where Professor Snape had them starting poison antidotes, and then History of Magic. Hermione found it both hilarious and excruciating that Professor Binn's class was the last class they had for the day. Even though his lecture was cut to one and a half hours instead of two, it felt like an eternity. Even she had trouble focusing on the ghostly professor as the clock behind him ticked on.

Most of the class were tapping their feet in anticipation, or already had their bags packed up. So when the bell finally rang half an hour early, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs filed out in quick succession, the students hurrying to deposit their bags in their respective dormitories. Hermione even found the time to brush her hair and pull it back with a headband.

Now in their cloaks, as instructed, they made their way to the entrance hall, where the Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines. Hermione stifled smirk as Professor Flitwick told Lisa Turpin to remove the bright orange rose she had stuck on top of her bun.

The students were quickly led down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. The evening was cold, and the sky was clear, dusk was falling and the first glimpse of the moon could be seen shining over the Forbidden Forest. A gust of wind blew and Hermione, standing between Anthony Goldstein and Padma in the fourth row, noticed Luna Lovegood shiver in the row in front of her. Hermione frowned, noticing that the girl wasn't wearing any socks, and quickly cast a warming charm on her. The younger girl turned in surprise, meeting Hermione's gaze with a soft, thankful smile.

Down the fourth row, she could hear the Gryffindors thinking aloud - the Weasley in their year and Harry Potter were trying to guess how the delegates would arrive. Hermione heard a scoff from her right, and her observant gaze met that of Malfoy.

He had been rather silent as of late. She had noticed that he scowled less, though he always seemed to stop himself whenever he caught himself doing so. It was an interesting development, but she didn't dare presume that he was growing up. It couldn't be that simple, could it?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Padma pulling her sleeve to get her attention. "Hermione, look."

Something large was hurtling across the deep blue sky towards the castle at an alarming speed, growing larger as it neared. A first year had screamed something about a dragon and had moved to duck for cover. Hermione tsked at him, wondering how the Sorting Hat had decided that the boy was a Ravenclaw.

As the object neared, and came into the light shining from the castle windows, it became clear that it was a carriage - a giant, powder blue monstrosity being pulled by just as monstrous horses. Hermione couldn't hold her gasp of awe as the dozen winged palominos the size of elephants came to a stop dangerously close to the Hogwarts students.

She forced herself to stay rooted to the ground, fighting the urge to run a hand through the horses' glossy gold mane which was only a few feet in front of her. So enamoured was she by the stallions that she didn't notice the carriage door open. Her attention was pulled back when a boy in pale blue robes jumped down, bent forward, and unfolded a set of golden steps.

The reason for the size of the carriage, and of the horses was immediately explained as the largest woman she had ever seen stepped out. A few people gasped, and Hermione huffed in annoyance for the woman. She was just about the same height as Hagrid, but that was where the similarities ended. This woman had large black eyes and a beaky nose, black hair drawn back in a painfully tight knob at the base of her neck, and was dressed head to toe in black.

Dumbledore started to clap and the students followed in his lead, breaking into polite applause. Hermione observed the two school heads exchange pleasantries for a moment before diverting her attention to the horses, who had calmed down from their journey. Their fiery red eyes were oddly alluring to her, the color contrasting with their shining coat strikingly.

Once again, she brought her gaze back to thee carriage, where a few dozen boys and girls had emerged from the carriage and were standing behind Madame Maxime. Hermione frowned slightly upon seeing that they were shivering. Their robes looked to be made of fine silk - oh, how her mother would complain of not sending her to Beauxbatons instead. The French delegation were quickly escorted inside into the warmth by Professor McGonagall, though the students seemed more apprehensive than relieved to be out of the cold.

The Hogwarts students and staff were left in silence once again, broken only by Hagrid leading the horses and the carriage away. Hermione wondered to herself briefly about how much their saddles would way - only to once again be interrupted by Weasley - what was his name, honestly there were just too many of them! - and his thinking aloud again.

A boy in the back row pointed towards the lake, and from their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they could clearly see the smooth black surface of the lake begin to bubble and foam, slowly a whirlpool began to form. Hermione tilted her head to get a better look and made out the mast of the ship - which Potter pointed out immediately for everyone. She was quickly reminded of the storybooks she's read as a child. The ship looked exactly like how she'd imagined a pirate ship would look like, except instead of a skull and crossbones, a maroon flag was flying freely.

When people began to disembark, Hermione had almost laughed aloud, the figures were huge, hulking masses, and the thought briefly passed her mind that the Durmstrang may have been overfeeding their students, but as they drew nearer it became apparent that their bulk was mostly due to the fact that they were wearing large fur coats. If the Beauxbatons students had been freezing, these delegates seemed to be sweating profusely under their many layers. Once again, the heads exchanged pleasantries as Hermione worried about heat stroke.

A wave of murmurs spread through the Hogwarts students, with only a couple words in common amongst the chatter - Viktor Krum.

"Who's Viktor Krum?" Hermione asked absently as they all filed back up the steps behind the headmaster.

"What rock have you been hiding under, Hermione?" Terry Boot asked, flinging an arm around her shoulder, making her frown slightly. "He's only the best Seeker in the world!"

Anthony chuckled, "If he's so good, then why didn't Bulgaria win the World Cup, Boot?"

"World Cup?" Hermione repeated, "Like FIFA?"

"What's a feefa?" asked Anthony, looking at Hermione like she was an alien.

"It's a muggle sports federation." Su said matter of factly, "And yeah, like FIFA, Mione."

"Is it as big of an event in the magical event?" she asked, completely out of the loop.

"The Quidditch World Cup is the _most_ popular sporting event in the wizarding world, Hermione!" Terry exclaimed in disbelief, "You've honestly never heard of it, witch?"

Hermione frowned, "Well, I don't really follow Quidditch, and I only ever watch the Ravenclaw matches -"

"You're going to have to break that habit this year, love." Su said, as they sat down a little farther down from their usual spots at the Ravenclaw table - several of the Beauxbatons congregation had chosen to sit with them.

"Why?" Hermione asked, as she served herself a bowl of bouillabaisse.

"Well, because I'm trying out for the team and I'll need you to come to every match with me, even the ones where I'm not playing, that goes for you too, Pads." Su said.

""You're trying for the new Chaser position?" Terry asked, brows raised.

"Didn't know you could fly, Li." Anthony said, impressed, then turned to Hermione. "She any good?"

"She's brilliant." Hermione said loyally, "I'm sure you'll get the position, Su."

"Does that mean you agree to come to the matches?" Su grinned.

"Er, only if there isn't anything important to do." she relented.

Padma broke the chatter with a cough, "I think you're all forgetting one important fact - there won't _be_ any matches this year, remember? They've been canceled because of the tournament."

Su scowled, "Well, I spoke to Morgenstern, who's the captain, and he says that there'll be tryouts anyway - the teams will still practice to stay in shape for next year."

" _Excusez-moi?_ You are to be playing Quidditch?" a French boy who looked to be a few years older than them interjected, looking vaguely interested. Two of his mates were listening in to the conversation as well.

Su paused, and for a moment it seemed that she had seized up - because this older boy was talking to her, this older boy with dark hair and a slanted jaw line and dark freckles dusting his skin. Padma pinched her friend on the arm lightly, rousing her from her stupor.

"Oh! Yes! Well, if I'm accepted into the team." the girl said nervously.

"Do you think zat we are welcome to play as well?" the young man asked eagerly.

Su sputtered, "Ugh, I'll talk to the captain and see if it's alright. Are you part of your school's Quidditch team?"

" _Oui._ I am Nasir, and zis is Leo and Claude. We play for Beauxbatons." he smiled, motioning to his two friends who waved to their group enthusiastically.

"My name's Su, these are my friends, Padma, Hermione, Tony, and Terry." Su said shyly, something Hermione was not at all accustomed to Su being, "I'll talk to our captain after the meal and tell you if it's all right for you to train with us."

The conversation then maintained its flow and Hermione found herself observing the Great Hall. Most of the Bulgarians had chosen seats at the Slytherin table. She could see Malfoy smirking victoriously at being seated next to the Krum fellow. Hermione honestly couldn't see anything astounding about him, besides the fact that his face seemed permanently molded into a dour expression.

She checked the time on her wrist watch after a few moments, and seeing that it was only about half past seven o'clock, she excused herself, claiming to be tired. Her friends barely blinked, Su and Padma nodded goodbye, though, knowing full well what she was up to. It had been quite some time since she had last danced and her feet were getting antsy.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was definitely not watching Hermione Granger as she stood from her seat at the Ravenclaw table, nor did his eyes follow her as she walked out, he also didn't notice that her hair bounced with every step, falling against her back prettily. He _especially_ didn't take note of the fact that her footfalls were rather graceful, causing her skirt to sway enticingly from the sashaying of her hips.

No, it was mere coincidence that he stood from the Slytherin table a few moments later, announcing that he was rather tired. He saw Pansy move to stand and follow after him, but he waved her away. She had been getting quite annoying as of late. The dismissal seemed to put out Pansy, who had huffed indignantly and moved to slide closer to the Durmstrang boy sitting next to her. Draco paid her no mind, quickly stepping out of his seat and out the entrance.

Of course, it was _also_ pure chance that he had spied a flash of blue rounding a corner in the hallway. It was rather intriguing, he thought to himself, that her footsteps made practically no sound on the stone floor.

It was purely for research purposes, he would tell himself years later, that he trailed behind her at a safe distance. He had caught on to the fact that Granger left her house table after meals rather quickly, most of the time alone. Of course, he had come to know of this fact because she just _happened_ to sit directly in his line of site during meal times, and her standing up before anyone else distracted him.

He followed her a good ways behind, hands in his pockets, feigning ignorance. As she began taking the staircase down, he grew puzzled. He had no idea exactly where Ravenclaw Tower was, but he was certain that she should be going up instead of down.

As they neared the tapestry of the Drunken Duke, who was having a jolly time tossing back his goblet, wine spilling all over his red beard, Hermione came to a halt, making him quickly hide behind a suit of armor that creaked at being disturbed.

He watched curiously as she slipped behind the heavy tapestry. Pale eyebrows rose in intrigue when she did not reappear minutes after, instead, he heard the soft thud of a door closing. Unable to resist, he crept towards the tapestry, lifting it to peek inside. The alcove hidden from sight was filled with dim candle light, masked from the main hall by the heavy maroon fabric.

Going against his Slytherin instincts, he opened the door as slowly and silently as he could. Almost immediately, he was met by the familiar sound of piano music. It was nothing too distinct, just the same keys over and over again. He wondered whether she was beginning piano lessons, not able to mask the smirk off his face. He himself had taken music lessons since he was young, and prided himself in his skills with the violin. Finding something he was better at than her brought a triumphant look on his face.

Until he heard an odd sound joining every other beat. His curiosity piqued once again, Draco tried prying the door open a little more, to try and glimpse what she was doing, but he couldn't get a good look without opening the door wide enough.

Weighing the options in his head, he stepped back, letting the door close silently, and muttered a soft Disillusionment charm underneath his breath. Shaking off the still odd feeling of an egg being cracked on top of him, he pried the door wide, just enough to slip past. Just as he set foot into the secret room, the door closed with a thud, making the music stop.

He froze, feeling his heart rate hike in alarm. Granger was standing in the middle of the room, a puzzled look on her face. What took his attention, however, was how she was dressed. Draco should have known that she did ballet. His mother had done so as a young girl, and as a result, her posture was impeccable and her grace close to queenly. Granger carried herself in exactly the same way.

His eyes wandered despite himself, falling on the thin black straps of her leotards that clung to her like a second skin, hugging her in such a way that made his heart beat faster than it already was. Her waist was _tiny,_ emphasized more by the pale pink skirt tied around it. Tights wrapped around her slim legs, and her feet were clad in shiny pink pointe shoes. It made her seem so _dainty_ \- not that she usually wasn't. Granger was a far cry from the rest of her peers, not one to be brash or clumsy, it was as if everything she did was premeditated beforehand.

Granger's arms fell to her sides, looking at the door in confusion. "Odd," she mumbled to herself, "I could've sworn I locked it."

She strode towards the door, dangerously close to where he stood, and bolted it shut, making him bite down a groan of annoyance. His stupid curiosity had gotten him locked into a room with Granger, of all people. As she walked back to where she was standing before he came in, he had to resist inhaling loudly at the sight before him. Her leotards dipped dangerously low behind her, forming a 'V' towards the small of her back. Draco, of all his fourteen years, had never seen a girl his age dressed so revealingly.

The piano music resumed, and he sighed in resignation, having condemned himself to spending however long watching Granger dance. She was quite good at it, all soft motions and steady feet, giving the impression that she had been dancing for a long time. After watching her for about five minutes, his interest was drawn to the other side of the room, which was, in plain terms, an absolute mess.

The wood floor was stained with color, what looked to be paint and charcoal. Making sure his footsteps were as quiet as could be, he made his way to several paint stained tables stacked with cans of paint and pallets, dirty brushes, jars of pencils, watercolor tubes, and canvases piled on canvases.

Facing a large window was a stool and easel, on the easel, an unfinished canvas was propped, angled towards him. It was a portrait of someone, a thin, smiling, middle-aged man with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. Her father, probably, since they shared a likeness. Knowing quite a bit about art, his eyes noticed the easy brush strokes, the almost expert detail to the man's eyes that seemed to make them as if he were looking directly at you.

He walked towards the wall, where canvases were propped against it haphazardly. There were quite a few portraits, one of a woman who looked strikingly like Granger, and a few of children, the youngest probably four years old. There were also a few landscapes here and there, of Hogwarts and another castle unfamiliar to him. Charcoal sketches of magical creatures were Spell-o-taped to the wall, looking eerily lifelike. Draco quickly found himself growing impressed with the girl. It wouldn't shock him at this point if she actually was skilled at the piano, which had been spelled to play magically while she danced.

Truly, Draco thought, watching the girl who had now begun Odile's solo from Swan Lake, Hermione Granger was more than she led everyone to believe.

* * *

 **a/n:** Sorry for making you guys wait so long! I've been working on my Hermione/Newt fic. Also I got so frustrated about a fic that I stopped writing for two weeks. I've been writing a crossover - HP/LOTR - and I found a fic that had almost the same origin story (quite a popular fic too) and it broke my heart because I was really invested in this story but now I don't know if I should post it anymore. I'm already thirteen chapters in, too. :(


	7. 7

**7**

 **11\. 19. 94**

Hermione left the library in an uncharacteristic huff, rolling her eyes as she passed another group of giggling girls. Honestly, she thought, as her hands gripped her Potions textbook tighter, some girls just couldn't keep their composure around boys.

She exited the castle, beginning the short trek down to the Black Lake. Su was in the middle of Quidditch practice, and Padma had somehow been convinced to watch the team play. So she was left to fend for herself amongst the twittering fangirls following a certain star Seeker who had a penchant for showing up wherever she was.

Finally coming upon an acceptable space by the lake to read, she withdrew a deep blue pashmina out of her bag and spread it as a makeshift picnic blanket, dropping her bag unceremoniously on the ground a moment after.

A few students were milling about here and there, several Beauxbatons girls were doing some form of yoga by their carriage, and a few of the Durmstrang students could be seen splashing about in the lake. Hermione frowned to herself, the fact that she was yet to make a friend with any of the other schools' students hadn't escaped her. Su was getting on well enough with some of the Durmstrang Quidditch boys, and Padma had made friends with a Beauxbatons girl she had spied looking for the same novel as her in Hogsmeade. Hermione however, remained awkward and nervous with the thought of approaching new people. A small, wistful sigh escaped her as she resumed her reading.

Thirty or so minutes had passed when an irregularly shaped shadow loomed over Hermione, blocking out her light. Her glare was met by the grinning face of Justin Finch-Fletchley.

"Afternoon, milady." he said, bowing.

Hermione refrained from rolling her eyes. Ever since Justin had found her out, he had become a little over-zealous in his friendship. Truly, she was glad that she had someone who understood her dilemma, but one could only have so much Hufflepuff in their day. After pretending to listen to him drone on about his pet puffskein who had just produced several pupskeins, she tidied her things up for the second time that day.

"Justin," she said, interrupting him in his description of the third female pupskein, who had bright pink fur all over and lime green fur around the eyes. "I heard the Hufflepuff dorms were near the kitchens. Do you know how to get there?"

"Er, yeah, just tickle the pear in the painting of a bowl of fruit. Why?" he asked.

"Just feeling a little peckish." she said simply, folding up her pashmina. Before the boy could begin to suggest he come along, she said, "You know, Padma's been dying to hear all about your puffskein, I think she might even take one off of your hands."

"Really?" Justin asked, none the wiser.

"Mhmm, she's over by the Quidditch fields. Why don't you go look for her?" she said, grinning.

A handful of minutes later found Hermione walking happily along the basement corridor, where she found the bowl of fruit in question and tickled its pear. Giggling wildly, the painting flew open to reveal a bright green door. Thinking being friends with Justin had proved good for something, she smiled and knocked.

A wide eyed house elf opened the door, peering up at her in question.

"Hello!" she smiled sweetly, "Do you think I could stay here for a moment? The castle's been a bit over crowded for me lately."

The elf squeaked happily and pried the door open for her to pass through, "Yes, Miss! Come in, Miss! Would Miss like anything to drink? To eat? Maybe a bit of blue pie?"

Hermione smiled, "No, thank you, just a place to sit and a spot of tea would be nice."

The elf nodded aggressively, taking her hand to guide her to a corner of the large kitchen, where a picnic table sat waiting for her. She thanked the creature as she sat, only then taking note of her surroundings. Several more elves were milling about, the smells of their dinner later tonight wafting around the kitchen.

Her attention was stolen by the same elf that had attended to her. He had come back with her tea.

"Is Earl Grey alright, Miss?" the elf asked nervously.

"Yes, that's perfect." she nodded. "Milk and sugar, please, darling."

Surprised, the elf blushed at the endearment and nodded.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Bitsy, Miss."

"Do you think the other elves would mind if I stayed here from time to time? The library's always full and I can't find a lick of peace anywhere in the castle." she pleaded.

Hermione almost jumped out of her seat when a chorus of affirmation came from the working elves, who had all paused what they were doing. An amused laugh bubbled out of her at their reaction.

"Thank you!" she said, before taking her things out to begin her homework again.

In the middle of writing her 18 inch essay about the Mermish Council of Elders, the kitchen door swung open again, unbeknownst to her. Only when a bookbag was set on the table in front of her did she realize she was no longer alone with the elves in the kitchen. Looking up, she was faced with the friendly grin of yet another Hufflepuff, the most famous Hufflepuff as of late, actually.

"Can I help you?" she asked nicely, though she was a bit irked at being interrupted once again.

"Well, seeing as you're in my seat…" he said good naturedly.

"Oh!" she said, sitting straighter, "Would you like me to leave?"

"No, no, it's alright." he chuckled to himself. Hermione could not help but notice that he really was quite handsome, as Padma had pointed out when the school champions had been chosen several weeks before. His chestnut dark hair fell into his eyes dashingly, framing deep green eyes that were shining brightly in mirth. "Would you mind if we shared the table though? My name's Cedric, by the way."

"Oh, you don't need to introduce yourself, everyone likely knows who you are by now. I'm Hermione Granger, and no, I don't mind." she said, moving her things around to create some space for him. "Having trouble finding some quiet as well?"

He nodded, running a hand through his hair bashfully. Oh, honestly how could someone be so good-looking?

"I was just in the library researching for the first task but I got interrupted every few minutes." he admitted.

"You as well?" she empathized, "I thought it was just Krum who had the adoring fans."

"Me as well, unfortunately." he winced, "I borrowed a few things to read here, though."

"Have you found out what the first task is going to be?" she asked curiously watching as he unloaded several heavy books onto the table.

"Not quite, but traditionally, the Triwizard tournament begins with a battle with beasts. The last tournament the first task was to round up a Minotaur back into its cage."

"Oh, how horrid." she frowned.

"Yeah, I know, and this is the first tournament in a long time so we should be expecting something even worse than a Minotaur."

"And you're going into this blindly? No instructions whatsoever?"

He shrugged, "The only instruction is ' _don't die'_ I suppose."

"Oh, I don't like that at all." she said, thinking aloud, "I'd rather just study, if I were you. Though I guess it's a good thing you're excused from exams."

He winced again, "I can't really sit them out. I'm hoping for a Ministry internship at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and they require nothing less than an 'E' in every subject."

"Impressive," Hermione commented, eyebrows raised.

Diggory grinned, "Not just a Triwizard Champion and a pretty face, eh?"

She laughed, ignoring the blush that filled her cheeks, "You sound like the article that Skeeter woman put out in the Prophet, ' _Quidditch Captain, charmingly handsome, and most likely the brightest student at Hogwarts…'_ , it was a very positive review of you."

"You're making me blush, Granger," he grinned, "Though I can't very well steal your title from you now, can I? The professors talk about you even to us sixth years, you know."

Her blush deepened, "I didn't know-"

"Oh, stop being modest, Hermione, it isn't a good look on you." he joked, "We all know you're bloody brilliant."

She probably looked like a ripe tomato by now, "I'm not, honestly! I just like studying."

"Whatever you say, Granger." Diggory winked.

"Hush, you." she said, finally, feeling her face burning.

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you to your homework, then." he teased.

After writing a few more inches to her essay, she set down her quill and brought her fingers to her temples. A few hours of reading the miniscule texts would do that to her. She sighed and gathered her things together.

"Doing alright there, Granger?" Diggory asked, noticing her movement. His eyes followed her hands as they rifled through her papers, arranging them one by one. Sticky fingers shot out to steal a sheet of parchment, much to her annoyance.

"May I have that back?" she asked, the headache wearing her patience thin.

"This is good." he said in a tone of surprise that made her brows raise in offense.

"It's just a bit of homework. I _can_ paraphrase off textbooks, you know."

Cedric rolled his eyes, "I meant this." he said, showing her the parchment, one of her drafts that had a few sketches of merpeople to the side.

"Oh!" she gasped, trying to snatch the parchment from him, "Give that back!"

Cedric pulled it out of her reach, bringing the paper closer to his eyes, "Honestly, this really is brilliant. They look real!"

Hermione huffed rather unladylike-ly. "Are you quite finished?"

Cedric had the audacity to chuckle at her expense, "Here you go then."

"Thank you very much." she said prissily.

"Oh, come now, Granger, it's all in good fun."

"Hermione." she said flatly.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I don't like it when people call me Granger." she said, scrunching up her nose, aggravating her growing migrain all the more.

"But it's your name." he said, looking at her oddly.

"Well, so is Hermione and I prefer it."

"Alright, then." he shrugged, "Suppose if we were going to be study buddies I might as well be on your good side."

She narrowed her eyes at him, wincing as she did so, but decided to drop her comeback, "I have to go. This headache is killing me."

"I'll walk you to the Hospital Wing." Cedric said, getting up after her.

"No need." she replied, walking quicker. Of course that didn't help her very much because Diggory was as tall as a tree and his strides matched hers three to one.

"Come on, then, can't have Hogwarts' brightest pupil fainting on us now." he grinned.

"Are you normally this irritating or is my headache skewing my perception of you?" she said bitingly, making him grin even wider.

"Nope, that's just me." he quipped.

"Oh, joy." she said, heaving her bag up to rest better on her shoulder.

"Here, I'll carry that for you." Diggory offered, as he was already lifting her book bag to his own shoulder, "Bloody hell, witch! What's in here?"

"Language!" she tutted, "Also, it's just a few reference books."

"It feels like you brought the whole bloody library with you." he muttered.

"What was that?" she asked sharply.

"Nothing." he said innocently, "Hospital Wing's this way."

* * *

"What did you do today Hermione?" Padma asked at dinner later that day, after Su had finished relaying a play by play recap of her Quidditch practice.

"Not much." she said, smiling to herself, "Though I did make a new friend, or study buddy as he called it."

"Oooooh, a _he_?" Su asked intriguingly.

"Hush," she admonished, "it's not like that. He's a sixth year."

"Oooooh, even better! An older he?" Su grinned.

"Oh, honestly," she pouted over her pudding, "I don't know why I even tell you anything."

"Because you adore us and we're your best friends." Su said matter of factly.

"Su, quiet, she's trying to tell us something," Padma said, "Who's your new friend, Hermione?"

"Cedric Diggory." she said, without much fanfare.

The twin back takes from her friends made her ponder for a moment whether she should be offended. Their looks of disbelief made her laugh out loud, though.

"Close your mouths you to, or else you'll both be having flies for dinner."

"Are you taking the mickey?" Su asked, eyes wide.

"What she said." Padma nodded.

"Of course not, why would I joke about that?" she frowned, "We just studied together is all. He's not quite how you think he is. He's a bit annoying to be honest."

"Who cares?" Padma sighed, sounding entirely not like her usual level-headed self, "He's stupidly handsome."

Hermione laughed, "That's one way of putting it. Anyway, I've got to get to my studio. I have a couple of sketches I need to sort."

"Go on then," Su nodded, ""But we're finishing this discussion later!"

She was shaking her head as she walked away. Her friends could be so amusing sometimes.

Lost in her thoughts, she did not see the figure coming towards her as she rounded a corner, resulting in a collision that made her drop several of her books.

"Oof!"she groaned as her bottom met hard stone. That was going to hurt later on.

"Merlin, I'm sorry!" the person she had crashed into said. Before she knew it he was helping her up, gripping her arms for support.

"Thank you." she said, just as her mind processed just who it was she bumped into.

"Here you go." he said, handing her the books she had let go of, hands brushing against her own as he did so.

Where was the unveiled disgust at touching her? The icy glare? The mocking sneer? Who the hell was this person and what had they done with Draco Malfoy?

"Um-" she said dumbly.

"Sorry for that." he said, running a hand through his hair, "Didn't watch where I was going."

"It's alright-"

"See you later, Granger." he said, brushing past her as he walked off quickly.

What in the high heavens had just happened?

* * *

His heart was beating wildly in his chest as he walked off. Oh, what in Merlin's good name had gotten into him? The moment he had seen her round the corner it was as if a switch had turned off in him and he had lost all sense in his body. He had acted like a poncey Hufflepuff, -with all the apologizing.

This existential crisis was costing him his reputation and he _did not_ like it.

* * *

 **a/n:** I'm cooking something up, can you tell? Also I've decided to continue writing my LOTR/HP Xover, though I'm not sure whether I'll post it or not. I've also been itching to write a GOT/HP story since the GOT season started. Any thoughts about the first episode of GOT?


	8. 8

**8**

 **11\. 24. 94**

"Good evening." said a rather chipper voice coming from the boy who was approaching her study spot.

Hermione looked up in surprise at the Hufflepuff, who still had bandages wrapped around his head. "Cedric! I didn't think you'd be allowed out of the Hospital Wing."

The boy smiled sheepishly, "Snuck out," he said simply, "got a bit of studying to do for Charms."

Hermione frowned, "I'm sure they'd excuse you, you're our champion, after all. And you placed first as well, Flitwick would understand."

He shrugged as he sat down, "They've already excused me, but I can't just stay in bed all day until I heal up, can I?"

"But you're hurt!" she pressed.

"Worried about me?" he teased, trying to wag his eyebrows but ending up with a wince of pain.

She glared at him, used to his teasing by now.. "The only thing I'm worried about is how much your head will deflate when they tell you the damage to your face is irreparable and you lose all your adoring fans."

This drew a laugh from him as he was pulling out a book from his bag.

"Congratulations, by the way. Inanimate-Animate Transfiguration is tricky enough without having the added stress of a dragon breathing fire at you. It's a wonder any of you didn't die."

"Underestimating my abilities now, are we?" he asked, green eyes twinkling mischievously.

"There's only so much a Sixth Year can do against a dragon, Cedric." she said simply, "I am glad you're alright, though."

"Ha! So you _do_ care!" he said triumphantly.

"Only because the elves would be inconsolable if you died. There'd be no one to devour the leftover pudding, then." she said, barely looking up at him from her Potions text.

"You're cold as ice, Hermione." Cedric grumbled.

"Thank you." Hermione replied primly.

* * *

 **11\. 27. 94**

She wondered to herself how she gotten into this position. She was up high on one of the Quidditch stands sitting next to Padma, bored out of her mind. She had resorted to sketching onto a piece of spare parchment after being there for ten minutes.

When she had mentioned offhandedly to Su that Cedric had said something about wanting to play a game of pick-up Quidditch two nights before, she had not expected her best friend to force her into organizing the game, and watch it as well.

She had been lazily following the match as students from all three schools whizzed past. Even Krum had gotten on his broom to play. A whistle drew her attention, it seemed as though words were being exchanged by Ron Weasley and a Beauxbaton boy. Cedric can flying towards the stands, coming to a halt in front of them. His eyes landed on her, and the parchment she had been sketching on.

"Need a model, Hermione?" he asked playfully.

"No," she said, rolling her eyes, "but when I do, you'll be the first person I'll ask."

His lips quirked up into a grin, "Want a ride?"

"No." she said flatly, her face set in a serious mask.

"Come on, it'll be fun." he said, offering his hand.

"Not in a million years, Cedric." she said, a hint of warning in her tone.

This was the wrong thing to say, apparently. The Hufflepuff, taking her no as as a challenge, surged forward, muttering a charm under his breath to get her to levitate, flew behind her and canceled the spell so that she was now sitting on the broom, with him behind her. Hermione could faintly hear Padma squealing behind her as he flew away.

"I'm going to kill you." she hissed, clutching on to the broom, knuckles almost white with effort. She barely registered his hands over her own so that she was safely in his arms. "As soon as you put me down, I'm murdering you and throwing your body to giant squid!"

"Guess I'll never put you down then." he said, laughing as the wind blew against them.

"Cedric, put me down!" she demanded as they flew farther away from the ground. Her heart was beating rapidly in fear. The Hufflepuff merely laughed.

"Cedric! I'm afraid of heights!" she pleaded, "Please!"

The laughter finally stopped and they descended slowly onto the field. Hermione scrambled off the broom, for the first time ever, not caring about poise or grace.

"Hermione, I'm sorry-"

"I told you no, Cedric!" she said, eyes blazing.

"It was just a bit of fun-"

"Well, it wasn't fun for me." she scowled, "I'm leaving. Enjoy your bloody game."

Draco had been flying next to Krum when Diggory suddenly swooped down to take Granger for an impromptu ride. His eyes followed their movement as they flew around the field.

"Who is that?" Krum asked, nodding to the couple.

"The girl Diggory's with? That's Granger." he said, trying to sound as emotionless as possible. The flare of jealousy that sparked with watching Diggory wrap his arms around Granger did not go unnoticed.

"I vos thinking of asking her to Ball." Krum frowned, "Is Diggory and she together?"

Draco frowned, finally looking at the older boy, "No, not that I know of." he said, "She's a muggleborn, you know."

"So vot?" Krum asked, keeping his gaze on the two.

"You're a pureblood, she's dirty." Draco said, the words feeling wrong in his mouth.

Krum finally looked at him, eyes piercing, "That is kind of thinking that brings var. Blood is blood."

Draco ducked his head, unable to meet Krum's glare.

"What use is 'good blood' if soul is poisoned?"

* * *

 **12\. 03. 94**

It took one week for Cedric to finally find her. She had been hiding from him ever since the Quidditch incident. After the initial shock and anger had passed, she was left with embarrassment at having gotten so mad at Cedric. Thinking about her overreaction made her blush every time. Su had told her to forgive him when Padma had filled her in. Hufflepuffs could sometimes be a bit too fun loving, she said.

But forgiving him meant having to talk to him, which was something she could not see herself doing without fainting out of sheer embarrassment.

She had not ventured into the kitchen since then. Every time he tried to get her attention, she walked away. She would go straight to her studio after meals and study there, and wait until it was almost curfew to head back to Ravenclaw Tower.

On the seventh night of doing this, just as she was about to raise her hand to the knocker of the tower, a hand grabbed her wrist, halting her movement.

"What-" she twisted to look at the offender, moving to reach for her wand. When she saw a pair familiar green eyes peering down at her, Hermione froze. "Cedric."

"Hermione, I'm sorry, I never should've forced you to-"

"No, I'm sorry, I overreacted-"

"You should have." he pressed, "I was out of line and I was just trying to impress you."

"Impress me?" she asked, brows turned down in confusion. It was not lost on her that he still held her wrist in his grip.

Out of character, he blushed, the pink staining his cheeks rather charmingly, "Er, yes. It was stupid - I been, um, - I have -"

"You've what, Cedric?" she said impatiently.

"I can't explain when you keep interrupting me, witch!" he said, exasperatedly, though his grin made it lighthearted.

"Well, I can't understand you if you keep stuttering." she huffed, tipping her chin up.

"I want you to go to the Yule Ball with me." he said, smiling at her.

Out of all the things in the universe, _that_ definitely was not what she had been expecting.

"Excuse me?" she said, eyes wide.

Cedric smirked, "Don't play dumb with me, Hermione. You know what I said."

"But why?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"You're the only one who doesn't recoil at my hideousness." he quipped, earning a soft slap on the arm from her.

"I'm joking." he laughed, "I dunno, Hermione, maybe because you're funny, smart, and beautiful?"

Her blush reached epic proportions at that. "Thank you." she whispered, unsure of what to say.

"So, should I take that as a yes?" he asked, grinning at the dumbfounded look on her face.

"You never asked." she said absently.

"What?" he frowned.

"You just said you wanted to go the the ball with me. You never asked." she pointed out

"You're too smart for your own good." he growled, "Will you go the Yule Ball with me, Hermione?"

She smiled prettily at him, "I would."

"Does that mean you'll come back to the kitchens? The house elves have been hounding me for days."

* * *

 **12\. 05. 94**

To say that her father's reaction to her having a date to the Yule Ball was bad would have been an understatement. She was fortunate that her family didn't have any magic because the Howler Ralph Percy would have sent following her letter telling them that a boy - a _sixteen year old boy_ \- would have been so horrendous that she would wish she'd never been born with magic at all.

Her mother - bless her soul - had sent a letter to follow her father's, telling her that she would deal with the matter, as well as reminding her to take pictures and to keep her eyes out for her dress, which would be delivered within the week.

Her friends' reactions were a different thing altogether. Padma had already started gushing about their possible wedding - which automatically drew a strangled gasp from Hermione the first time she heard the girl's babbling. Su had been over the moon, and did not miss any chance she got to tease her horribly. Hermione was just as happy for her, though, since one of the Quidditch boys she had gotten to know - Nasir - had asked her just the other day.

She and Cedric had agreed not to tell anyone besides their friends that they were going together, both of them not seeing the need to draw unwanted attention. Lisa Turpin had been more dreadful than normal ever since she had somehow tricked Anthony Goldstein into taking her.

She had resumed studying in the kitchens, much to the house elves' glee. And with the second task not until February, Cedric had become much more laid back - she had not known that was possible. He liked telling stories, mostly about his childhood - which had been as mischievous as she had expected. It was astounding to her, really, to listen to him and compare her own childhood to his. She had not taken into account how not normal her life was until it was pointed out to her, which Cedric succeeded perfectly.

She had not told him about her secret. It was too soon for that. She was smart enough not to bungle up her life over a silly school crush. Sometimes, while she was lost in thought, she wondered whether he would hate her if he ever became important enough that she'd tell him everything. The nagging voice in her head would sometimes tell her that they were too different, but she brushed it aside. Her grandfather would have never have approved of him, yes, but he had wanted her to marry Prince William, which was never going to happen.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Cedric tugging on one of the curls that had escaped her bun. "You in there, Hermione?" he asked, grinning at her from across the table.

"Sorry," she said, smiling apologetically, "what was it you were saying?"

"How different were your children's stories from ours? You asked me about Babbity Rabbity the other night, I never got to ask what stories you had."

"Oh, there are several." she grinned, pushing aside her homework, "A lot of them are princess stories, which usually have some form of magic. My favorite used to be Rapunzel. It's a story of a princess with long, beautiful hair that got locked in a tower."

"Relate to it much, do you, princess?" he joked.

Hermione smiled knowingly, "Don't be silly, I could never be a princess."

"Course you could," Cedric scoffed, "Just takes a crown a pretty dress and a beautiful girl, and you've already got the dress and the beautiful part down."

She laughed, "It takes more than that to be a princess, Cedric."

"Whatever you say, dear." he said in a sing-song voice.

"No, truly, they have to study specific things, go through several classes through their youth and are expected to be perfect all the time because they're supposed to be figureheads of the country, and a whole lot more, I figure."

Cedric laughed, "Maybe that's what they want you to think. All those royals are probably just spoiled to the bone and have everyone do everything for them."

Hermione frowned, unable to defend herself without risking her secret, "Maybe." she said a moment later.

* * *

"Why are you going with _Ron Weasley?_ " Hermione frowned, with Su nodding feverishly next to her.

Padma shrugged, "It's a favor for Parvati, she's going with Potter and she's been dying to have him look her way for months."

"I don't know what she sees in him." Su said, "And why does she have to drag you into it?"

"It's not as if boys are lining up to ask me to the Ball, Su." Padma said, rolling her eyes.

"You could have done a lot better than Weasley." Hermione said, "Have you seen how he eats? I don't think he even knows how to use a napkin."

This earned a guffaw from Su and a small furrowing of brows from Padma, "He isn't all that bad. Vati says he's funny."

"Let's hope he makes you laugh enough to forget his horrid table manners, then." she said.

Parvati shook her head at her friend, just as the morning mail owls came fluttering in. A group of three owls flew in carrying a sizable package, dropping it in front of Hermione. It was unremarkable, to say the most, just normal manila wrapping tied by twine, like she had asked.

"Is that your dress?" Padma asked excitedly.

"Most likely." she said, waving her wand to banish it to her trunk.

"Aren't you going to look at it?" Su asked, put out that she wouldn't get a preview.

"I know what it looks -"

"Why would she need to know? No one's going to see it anyways." a snarky voice said a few ways down the Ravenclaw table.

Three annoyed heads turned to look at the offender, to find, predictably, Lisa Turpin sneering at them.

"What are you going on about now?" Su asked, sounding annoyed.

"Oh, just that Hermione won't get to wear her dress anyways, since she's not had anyone ask her." Lisa laughed haughtily.

"At least she didn't have to force her date to go with her." Su spat, ignoring Hermione's look of warning.

Lisa glowered at the other girl, "It's too bad she couldn't even force anyone to go with her."

"Why you little-"

"Su." Hermione said softly, "Don't."

"But Hermione she -"

"Don't, Su. It doesn't matter." she said, getting up, "I have to go."

With a firm shake of hr head signaling she did not want her friends to follow her she stood, making her way out of the Great Hall.

"You don't believe her, do you, Granger?" asked a voice behind her.

She twirled around, only to be surprised by the sight of Draco Malfoy staring at her with a curious look on his face.

"What?" she asked dumbly.

"Turpin, she's being a right bint." Malfoy said offhandedly.

"How did you even hear what she said?"

He shrugged, "I was passing by."

"And why do you care?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

One more shrug. "You should know that you're better than her. Just because you don't have a date and she does -"

"I do."

"What?" he said, this time is turn to narrow his eyes.

"I do have a date." she said.

"Oh." Malfoy said simply, looking confused.

"Anyways, I don't see how this involves you." she said, awkwardly, "Thank you, I guess."

"No problem, Granger." came his reply as she started walking away.

Hermione had brushed off their last encounter as a freak accident, but Malfoy was getting weirder and weirder by the day, and it could not be ignored.

* * *

He was losing his bloody mind.

This was the only thought that was running through his mind as he watched Hermione walk away. Well, maybe not the only thought - the other was who in the bloody hell was her date to the ball.

It could only be Diggory. They had been acting rather chummy as of late. He knew this because more often than not he was watching her, which may have been a little creepy, and a tad disconcerting but she was a thorn on his side that would not go away.

Draco didn't know what came over him to cause him to talk to her. Maybe Blaise or Theo had pranked him with a charm that made him do things that would embarrass him. For Merlin's sake the look on her face when she had seen his was akin to one's reaction when first encountering a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

He needed to get his wits together and soon.

And maybe find a way to render Diggory unconscious until after Yule.


	9. 9

**9**

 **12.23.94**

Surrounded by towering bookshelves and bathed in the calming Scottish sunlight coming through the windows, Hermione found herself sitting next to Justin in one of the quieter corners of the library, both of them were hovering over an Arithmancy text, one wearing a puzzled face and the other looking at the former patiently. The Hufflepuff had been on her tail for weeks about getting her to tutor him and she had finally relented - even though it meant having to spend time in the ever crowded library. They'd been at it for a couple of hours, and he had learned quite a bit already, but Hermione was nothing but thorough.

After a few minutes, Justin leaned back against his chair, rubbing at his eyes. "Jesus Christ, Hermione I don't know how you do this."

Hermione tutted, "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to use His name in vain?"

Justin smiled apologetically, "Sorry, milady. By the way, did you hear back from your parents about the ball? I'd thought your father wanted me to escort you."

"Their letter arrived just this morning. Father's been convinced that nothing untoward will happen to me if I chose my own date." she said, rolling her eyes, "I'm sorry I haven't given you the proper time to find another date, though."

"Now worries," he shrugged, twirling around his quil, "Anything Lord Percy asks, I must do."

Hermione shushed him in alarm, "You know you're not supposed to talk about that in public."

"Oh, calm down, Lady Percy," he teased, "It's not as if anyone's paying attention. Half the people here don't even understand what it means to be heir-apparent to the Duchy of Northumberland."

She slapped her hand over his mouth angrily, "Can you be quiet?" she hissed, "If anyone finds out I'm done for."

Justin rolled his eyes, "Fine." he said, voice muffled by her hand.

"Thank you." she said, going back to her work.

The sound of swishing robes behind one of the bookshelves went unnoticed.

* * *

 **9\. 25. 94**

Hermione walked out of girls' bathroom wrapped in a deep blue robe. The grandfather clock on one side of the dormitory chimed four o'clock, right on schedule. The other Ravenclaw girls were already twittering about at their dressers and wardrobes, the excitement was almost palpable.

She smiled to herself, even she was a little giddy at the thought of a ball. Because of her heritage, she would have been expected to attend these kinds of things, parties and galas and the like, but being a witch had made that difficult for her, and she never did get to go along with her parents whenever they hosted or attended parties.

Settling herself in front of her vanity, she raised her wand, pointing it at the dresser where she kept her curlers. After a muttered charm, they started arranging themselves into her hair, pulling and twisting on their own. She winced as one grabbed onto a lock of hair a little too tightly.

Before leaving for Hogwarts after the summer, her mother had sat her down and experimented with her face, as mothers normally did - patting on powders and creams and glitter until she deemed her daughter perfect. Hermione followed her mother's step by step instructions then, taking out a face mask she had cast a cooling charm on, then handing two more to Su and Padma.

Lady Percy had been nothing but adamant that Hermione put on a touch more makeup than she was used to for the occasion, and Hermione, knowing full well her mother would pout and tut if she saw her daughter in photos looking sub-par, did what she was told. Foundation, then bronzer, then blush, a bit of gold on her eyelids, eyeliner to top it and mascara to frame her eyes, she shaped her eyebrows to perfection and finished with a neutral red lipstick. It made her look more mature, yes, but maybe that was a good thing, since her date was a few years older than her.

With another wave of her wand, the curlers came twisting out one by one, leaving her hair in large curls down the small of her back. Another spell had her hair magically portion itself into parts, then arrange themselves into a loose twist, with two braids running from the right part of her hair into the bun at the end. A few errant curls were left strategically to frame her face and two gold laurel pins kept the left part of her hair in place.

She finished just after most of the girls did, the majority of them were already busying themselves with their dress robes. A flurry of robes to the far left drew her eye only to find Lisa Turpin twirling around in robes a garish shade of yellow. Her nose crinkled at the sight before she stood to find her own robes.

The brown box it came in was hidden underneath her bed under a Notice-Me-Not Charm, just in case someone sneaky had plans to ruin them. Levitating it onto her bed and lifting the top, she smiled to herself, more than pleased with what met her eye. A square jewelry box the size of both her palms lay on top, the green velvet casing almost hidden in all the fabric. She took it out, set it on the bed and brandished her wand, levitating the dress out of the box carefully.

She, her mother, and Georgina had spent quite a while emailing one another to improve on initial sketches. In the end, they had come up with a sketch for a sheath dress silhouette made of satin that would be cinched at the waist by an intricate gold vine belt and flow down to pool on the floor. They had taken her suggestion for an asymmetrical neckline, which was embellished by a gold-beaded sunburst. The single slit came up to the left mid-thigh, just modest enough not to be considered too daring. Hermione held back her reservations about the color choice - emerald and gold- predominantly Slytherin colors, but only because Georgina had said it would match well with her pale skin and dark hair. Her pale gold gladiator heels that tied up to mid-calf made her taller than she already was. She'd probably come up to just over Cedric's chin now. She was slipping on her jewelry – a thin golden collar necklace and emerald studs – when Padma came up behind her.

"You look gorgeous, Mione!" she said a little bit breathlessly.

Hermione flushed at the praise, "Thank you. You look amazing as well, Pads."

And she did, her best friend was fully decked out in brilliant turquoise fabric that offset her deep skin tone beautifully. Gold embroidery laced the edges of her dress and wrapped all around her. Su came up then, exchanging compliments from both her friends. The Chinese girl stuck true to her roots in a deep blue and bronze Cheongsan that was an arrangement of light fabrics. Dark hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head, surrounded by a bronze circle that forked upwards.

"If your date doesn't drop down into the dungeons the moment he sees you, leave him." Su said bluntly as she teasingly lifted Hermione's skirt to show off her leg.

"Stop that," she admonished, "Anyways, don't you think we should get going? Did you two say your dates are meeting you at the Entrance Hall?"

"Mhm." Padma nodded, "Isn't _he_ meeting you there as well?"

Hermione rolled her eyes in faux irritation, "That's what I told him, but he does what he likes."

"I swear that boy is head over heels for you." Su chirped as they found their way down to the common room.

"Finally found someone who can actually stand you, Granger?" Turpin's shrill voice came from behind them.

Hermione wondered if anyone could hear her teeth grinding together in annoyance, "Will you _stop_?" she hissed.

Turpin raised a mocking brow, "It seems like you've finally grown some claws, Granger. Do you know how to use them?"

She glowered angrily at the girl as she dug into her robes for her wand, only to be stopped by Padma's hand. Her friend shook her head no, then led her, along with a fuming, hotheaded Su out of the common room.

Still irritated with the almost altercation, she barely registered the sight of the boy leaning against the wall next to the eagle door knocker, holding a single rose in his hand. At the sound of the door opening, he had bolted upright, and Hermione almost missed the way his eyes widened in surprise when he saw her. Green eyes roamed over her figure, making her face heat up in embarrassment.

"Good evening, Cedric." She said shakily, taking in his appearance as well. His robes appeared to be made of crushed black velvet that made him look even paler, a black bowtie was tied at his collar handsomely, and his hair had been coiffed into place, no longer the usual mess it was with the way he kept running his hands over it. She suspected that it would be back to its normal appearance at the end of the night.

Appearing to have composed himself, Cedric bowed deeply, coming up smirking at her, "You look gorgeous." he said, as he offered her the flower he had been twirling earlier. She took it, smiling.

"Thank you." She said, "You look quite handsome as well."

"By Merlin, I do believe that's the first compliment you've ever paid me, dear Hermione." he said, pretending to swoon.

She giggled, "I don't know if it's the dress robes but you seem more pompous that usual."

He scoffed, as if insulted, "Of course not! I'm this pompous all the time!"

The Tower door opened again and an influx of Ravenclaws came spilling out to witness the sight of Cedric Diggory taking Hermione Granger's arm in his and leading her to the Great Hall.

"I told you he was head over heels for her!" Hermione heard Su whisper loudly to Padma.

"Diggory!" she heard Turpin shriek in the quietest way she could, "She's taking _Diggory_!"

Hermione, finally feeling triumphant for once, held on to Cedric tighter, returning his smile as he looked down at her. She could feel in her bones that it was going to be a good night.

Hermione held herself proudly, albeit a little stiff. Her governess had drilled into her the rules of behaving in public as best as she could, swatting her with a ruler for even the most minor of infractions, and so, even though she was a stranger to having the attention of an entire room on her, her posture spoke otherwise.

Her mother came to mind as Cedric walked into the Great Hall, and she inwardly channeled Lady Percy's spirit as they took the position to lead the first dance. For many a time, she had snuck into parties to observe all the dignitaries and royals and everyone else deemed worthy of an invitation to Alnwick Castle, and her young gaze had always been drawn to her mother, as had the gazes of most everyone in the room. Like any daughter, she had wished so much to be like her mother, proud and poised, the epitome of grace. She hoped that was how she looked now, and not like the ball of nerves she was on the inside.

She felt Cedric lean in, his breath grazing her ear as he whispered, "Calm down, I can feel you heart racing. I know I'm good looking, but contain yourself, woman."

Unable to control herself, she swatted at his arm for his comment. "Don't make me regret I ever agreed to this." she hissed, though the grin on her lips as she did so betrayed her amusement, making him laugh.

"Know how to waltz, Granger?" he asked, wagging his eyebrows.

She held back her scoff, "I'm fairly good."

An eyebrow twitched up in interest, "Shouldn't be surprised, you're 'fairly good' at everything. Which means I'm going to get my arse handed to me am I?"

"Language." she admonished, but then added, "But yes, probably."

He let out another one of his playful laughs, "Come on then, put my dancing to shame, Princess."

Only when the three champions and their dates were ready on the dancefloor did the soft music stop, only to give way to a slow four step tune. Cedric offered his hand, grinning roguishly as he did so, and she took it, settling her other hand on her shoulder.

As the dance began she could feel the eyes on her, and her cheeks heated in embarrassment. How did her mother ever do this without feeling like an awkward goose? Cedric passed her on to the next champion, Viktor Krum, who had brought a Beauxbatons girl with bright red hair. The Bulgarian held her a little looser than Cedric had and she had to contain a sigh of relief. She had been told that men could take advantage of their hands and let them wander during dances.

Krum smiled at her, the grin looking a bit odd in the middle of his serious features. "I do not think we have met. My name is Viktor."

She smiled politely, "I'm Hermione."

He nodded, as if he already knew this information, "Diggory is lucky man."

She blushed at the veiled compliment, "Your date is a lucky woman."

He shrugged, "Is not first choice."

Hermione pursed her lips at his bluntness, but before she could inquire on who his first choice was, she ended up being passed on again, to end up in Roger Davies' arms, Fleur, the Beauxbatons champion's date.

He was more tight lipped, as well as a bit dazed. His eyes kept returning to Fleur, who was now being twirled about by Krum. Hermione supposed the rumors that the French girl was part Veela may be true. She hadn't seen a reaction to a woman quite like Davies' before.

As the song drew to an end, partners switched again, and she returned to Cedric, who resumed holding her with a smirk, "Miss me?"

She laughed, the sound floating over the music, "You're incorrigible."

Hermione smiled at Cedric, encouraging him to dance with one of his Quidditch team mates who he had promised a dance.

"I'll be back before you know it." he promised.

"Take your time," she said, "I can only take so much of you."

He stuck his tongue out, "We both know that's not true."

She shook her head at him and made a shooing motion with her hands, watching him run off to find his friend. Admittedly, she was a little out of breath - one should be after several minutes of dancing and being under the constant attention of a handsome boy. Seeking a bit of reprieve, Hermione snuck away to one of the courtyards, admiring the Christmas decorations as she caught her breath. Sprigs of enchanted mistletoe hung here and there, which she carefully avoided. It wouldn't do to be stuck outside until some stranger came to help her.

She was admiring the stars when footsteps sounded from behind her. Thinking it was a couple looking for a bit of fun, she hastily tried to make her presence scarce. An ever so familiar, high pitched voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Don't leave on my account, Granger." Turpin said, making her whirl around. Her hand hovered over her robe pockets, ready to grab her wand if the need arose.

"What do you want, Lisa?" she asked in a voice that was half-annoyed and half-tired.

"You know everyone still thinks you're perfect?" the girl said, avoiding Hermione's question, "After four years, you've never slipped up. No detentions, no rule-breaking, not a bloody hair out of place. Everyone thinks you're so perfect."

Hermione rolled her eyes, opening her mouth to reply, but she was stopped as the girl continued her monologue.

"I wonder what everyone will say when they find out you've been lying about everything."

The words stole the breath she had just regained out of her lungs. Her wand was in her hand almost immediately. "What are you talking about?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

"Don't pretend. I heard you and Finch-Fletchley talking. No need to lie to me, Granger." a cruel glint appeared in the girl's eye, "Or should I say, _Lady Percy_?"

Hermione scowled, "So what?" she sniped, "You can't tell anyone."

Lisa raised her eyebrow, smirking as she did so, "Is that a challenge?" she drawled, "Do you want to find out what'll happen when everyone knows, when word gets out to the media that Ralph Percy's daughter is a wtich? Maybe the Ministry will strip your wand off you for breaking the Statute, hmm?"

"They won't. I'll tell them it was you." she warned.

"But gossip is so unreliable." Lisa tutted, "How could you ever prove that? It would be easier to assume that a little girl's tongue slipped wouldn't it? Maybe then you'd be out of my hair."

Panic settled in and Hermione's brain searched quickly for a way to fix this. Finally, a wave of calm washed over her and she returned her wand to her pocket. Father always told her never to forget who she was. She almost did, for a moment.

A puzzled look came across Lisa's face at the sight of Hermione drawing herself to stand taller. A second ago she could barely catch her breath.

"So you know who I am." Hermione said calmly, though her heart told a different story, "You forget, Lisa, I know who you are, as well. Maybe they'll take away my magic if word gets out, but without magic, I'm still Lady of Northumberland, I still have my birthright. My father is one of the most powerful men in England. What do you think will happen when I tell him his daughter is being threatened?"

"I heard your father's a government worker." Hermione said, with the ease of someone discussing the weather, "Would you care to bet how long it would take Daddy's connections to remove him from his position? Where would you be then? Would your family still be able to pay for Hogwarts? For your sister's schooling?"

Lisa had took on the look of someone who had smelled something very unappetizing, "You wouldn't, that - that's not _fair_."

Hermione laughed, an angry, cruel laugh, ""And how fair have you been towards me? You're lucky I haven't mentioned your bullying to my parents or you would've been out of here since first year. Don't think for a moment that because I've been kind enough to let your cruelty off thus far that I'll allow you to ruin my life. I can ruin yours even quicker."

Lisa, who had now begun to tear up, spun suddenly, making her sprinting her way out of the courtyard as quick as she could.

Hermione heaved a shuddering sigh of both relief and frustration, sinking down onto one of the stone benches to once again catch the breath that had escaped her.

* * *

Draco Malfoy stood hiding behind a stone pillar, watching as the pinch-faced Ravenclaw girl stormed back into the castle. He adjusted his pants - the awkward discomfort had appeared in the middle of Granger's rant and he had been unable to get rid of it since then. The sight of her, her cold smile and the still chill of her voice had been positively entrancing- even more entrancing compare to when he had first seen her enter the Great Hall in her Slytherin green robes. The sight of her draped in his colors had sent a thrill through him that he hadn't expected, it almost made him forget about the thrice blasted git on her arm. Merlin, he needed to get a hold of himself.

Taking a deep breath, he approached her as soon as he calmed down, taking out his kerchief when he heard the faint sobs coming from her. Why was he doing this? Blast it all. Not knowing how to draw her attention when he finally stood in front of her, he coughed.

It worked, he had half wished it wouldn't, but it did - and she looked up, a look of horror appearing on her face when she saw him, she hastily moved to wipe her tears away. His hand shot out before she could, grabbing her wrists to halt her motion. They stayed there for a moment, staring at their hands before he dropped hers and held out his handkerchief.

"Use this." he said softly.

She nodded in thanks and dabbed at her eyes slowly. The confused and wary look did not fade from her face.

"Did you hear all of that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He gave a small nod, which was succeeded by a wince when she huffed under her breath.

Pleading eyes came to look up at him, warm, and brown and a little red-rimmed, "Is there any chance you'll keep it a secret?"

Before he could respond, a hysterical laugh bubbled up from her, "Who am I kidding? Of course you won't, you hate me! Goodness, could this get _any_ worse?"

Draco frowned, but said, "I'll keep your secret."

She halted her ranting almost immediately, "What?" she sputtered.

"I'll keep your secret." he said, as earnestly as he could.

Hermione's eyes narrowed in suspicion, a look comparable to any Slytherin's when wary of receiving help, "Why?" she asked pointedly.

Draco refrained from nodding his approval at her caution, instead, he gave her a shrug, "I want to."

"What if you decide you don't want to, then?" she said warily.

"I won't."

"I have no reason at all to trust you, Malfoy." she said, the unease in her voice obvious.

He held his wand out to her, "I, Draco Abraxas Malfoy, promise to keep the secret of Hermione Granger's true identity to myself until she decides otherwise."

The glow from his wand dimmed slowly, casting a faint glow across the girl's surprised features, "That was a Wizard's Oath." she said, shell-shocked.

Draco nodded simply, "Unless you give me permission, I'll guard your secret."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, more confused than ever before.

He smiled at her for the first time, "Consider it an apology, Granger."

With that, he offered his hand to her, watching as she weighed her choices while staring at his outstretched palm. A terse moment later, her lithe hand rested on his, allowing him to pull her up.

"Thank you." she said, dusting off her dress.

He nodded politely, "I think it would be best if we weren't seen reentering the Great Hall together."

She curled her lips at the thought, "Yes, I agree."

"Very well, good night, Granger." he said, moving away.

"Draco," the sound of her voice calling out his name sent shivers along his spine.

"Yes?" he turned to face her.

"Thank you." Hermione said quietly.

"Any time, Hermione." he said simply, then, as an afterthought, "You look beautiful tonight, by the way."

* * *

 **a/n:** Ooooof, now we're getting somewhere. A little head's up for people who like Cedric. I'll be twisting his character a little bit in this story, I'm so sorry, don't kill me.


	10. 10

**10.**

 **12\. 25. 94**

Sleep did not come easy to Hermione that night, even though her tired body was begging for it. Her thoughts were running a mile a minute. Lisa had already been in bed when she had got to their dorm, as had Padma and Su. She would have to tell them what happened tomorrow. Though, she couldn't quite wrap her mind around it either.

Lisa confronting her had come as a shock, even more so had been Malfoy's help. The only thing she had decided out of her eventful night was that kindness, though foreign on Malfoy's face was not an unpleasant sight.

' _I must be going mad if that's what's going on in my head right now.'_ she thought to herself, pressing her face into her pillow.

She'd have to speak with Dumbledore tomorrow. Disturbing the headmaster on Boxing Day wasn't ideal, especially with how he had been going about with the sherry alongside Trelawney, but it had to be done. A letter would have to be penned to her father as well, just as a precautionary measure.

She was going to skin Justin alive for all her trouble.

* * *

 **11\. 26. 94**

Hermione sighed tiredly as she left the headmaster's office. Her watch told her that it was already half-past nine, Sleep had almost been non-existent the night before, and she had woken up in the early hours of the morning, unable to shut her eyes again. A sane person would not be awake until noon the day after Christmas, and though she was entirely sure that Albus Dumbledore was _not_ a sane person, she assumed he would still be asleep.

And she had been right, as she was most of the time, because after she had let out a bit of steam in her studio, finishing a rather angry ballet set, and freshened up, Hermione had trudged up to the Headmaster's office and found the wizard freshly out of the bath and sipping on a hot cup of lemon tea with his head cradled in his hands, vowing to his phoenix never to drink again.

It would have been quite a funny sight had she not been in her state of distress.

Dumbledore had taken her news rather well, though the serious look on his face begged otherwise. It seemed as though the old wizard had been expecting something to happen sooner or later, and although he was quite thankful she had handled the situation well, he would have to place a few Floo calls and call Miss Turpin to his office just in case.

Against her better judgement, just as she was going to take her leave, Hermione had allowed herself to say, "Headmaster? Draco Malfoy knows as well."

At her late admission, the man's brows shot up over his spectacles.

"And what did Mr Malfoy say, my dear?" he asked, sounding curious and worried at the same time.

"He said he would keep my secret - he made a Wizard's Oath." she said, frowning at the memory, "Sir, Malfoy has never been shy about showing his disdain for me and muggleborns as a whole, but recently he's been acting odd. I don't know what to make of it."

Dumbledore hummed knowingly, "Perhaps Mr Malfoy has found other things to attract his disdain, or maybe he has lost it altogether."

"But Sir, the Malfoy have always been -"

"Do not be so quick to put people in boxes, Lady Percy." Dumbledore smiled, "After all, is that not what he has been doing to you?"

Hermione quieted, feeling more confused than she had been a few moments ago.

"You may leave, Lady Percy, I'm sure your father would like to hear of this new development."

"Yes, Headmaster." she said, inclining her head respectfully before leaving.

And that was how she found herself alone in the Great Hall, writing a letter to her father, and a separate one to her mother, where she had included photographs of the night before - courtesy of a Gryffindor boy by the name of Colin Creevey.

It was an odd sight, seeing the Great Hall empty, even the houelves seemed to have gotten a late start to the day, only coming up to offer her tea and toast, which she had accepted gratefully.

She was walking to the Owlery, letters in hand, when Cedric bumped into her. He had a sticky bun lodged in between his lips, but other than that, looked nothing out of the ordinary, in jeans and a thick mustard jumper. A playful grin appeared on his face when he saw that it was her. His eyes roved over her figure, taking in the plaid black and blue wool skirt, the tight turtleneck sweater and the black tights.

"You look awfully put together for someone who was out dancing until the late hours of the night." he grinned, keeping up with her brisk pace easily.

"When have I ever not looked put together?" she grinned in return. "Also, do I not get a 'good morning'?"

He laughed, and placed a quick peck on her cheek, making her blush. Hermione had learned quite quickly that Cedric was a very affectionate person, and although his pecks and embraces were not unwelcome, she had yet to get used to it - something he knew all too well and had taken it upon himself to draw a blush out of her any chance he got.

"Morning, Princess," he said, "so, where are we going?"

"The Owlery." she said, thoughts back to her original objective, "I've a few letters to send."

"I can see that." he said, eyeing the envelopes in her hand, "Couldn't it have waited until later in the day?"

She shrugged, "I couldn't get back to sleep earlier and figured it was a good a time as any."

"Have you had anything to eat? You look a bit knackered, love." Cedric said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

She huffed indignantly, all too aware of the darkness under her eyes and her less than perfect hair, "I just need a bit of sleep. I've had tea and a bit of toast already, aren't you going down for breakfast?"

"I'll go later." he shrugged as he waved his sticky bun at her, "Nicked it from the kitchens before I left."

"I see that," she smiled knowingly, "I honestly don't know how you aren't three hundred pounds with all the food you keep stealing from those poor elves."

"Quidditch," Cedric grinned as they began the short trek up to the Owlery.

He received a scoff in reply, "Unfair! All you do in Quidditch is sit on a borom! I have to do hours of ballet to stay in shape!"

"You do ballet?" Cedric asked, an intrigued look on his face.

"Not the point, Cedric!" she huffed.

"Well, Quidditch is intense, and ballet is just _dancing_." he said this with a scrunched nose and a frown, making her simmer with annoyance.

"It isn't _just_ anything. Ballet is more strenuous than most sports."

The Hufflepuff opened his mouth to reply, but upon seeing the growing ire on the witch's face, taught better of it. "Whatever you say, love."

Hermione huffed, knowing full well that he didn't understand at all.

* * *

 **12\. 31. 1994**

Hermione sighed as a shadow fell over her sketchbook. She had taken to drawing in the library recently because Cedric had become increasingly intrusive on where she disappeared to all the time. He reminded her quite a lot of Godric when he was a wee pup, always following her around and wanting to play - except the puppy was a sinfully handsome Hufflepuff and play to him meant stealing a kiss every moment he could

.

"Give me a minute, Cedric, I'm trying to finish this." she said, not even looking up.

"I'm not your boyfriend, Granger." came an unexpected voice.

Hermione's head shot up and her hand twitched making her wince at the dark line that appeared across the drawing of the library. She resisted the urge to erase the error immediately, choosing instead to set the charcoal pencil down.

"Malfoy," she said politely, though a creeping suspicion filled her at the sight of him, "how unexpected."

The Slytherin smiled shyly - an expression she had seen so rarely on his face, it made him look quite charming if she was being honest - less _pinched_.

"Yes, well," he lifted his hand to run it over his silver hair, "Everyone's left the library for the New Year's feast."

A quick survey of the abandoned room proved his words to be true. She quickly started packing her things up. "Thank you." she said with a small smile, "If you hadn't come up to me I might've missed the entire evening."

"It's nothing." he said as his gaze fell to her sketchbook. "You're quite good you know."

Hermione refrained from displaying the surprise on her face upon receiving the compliment, "Thanks, I should be, I've been drawing for years."

He nodded, looking as though he genuinely understood.

"Can I walk you to the Great Hall?" he asked suddenly, as she finished fixing her things.

This time, she couldn't stop her brows from raising, "Why?' she asked, eyes narrowed.

The boy merely shrugged, "No special reason."

"I'm sorry for saying I don't trust you, Malfoy." she said flatly, making him sigh in exasperation.

"I'm trying to make up for things, all right Granger? So give me your bag and let me walk you to the Great Hall." he said, extending his hand out expectantly.

Hermione couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her, "I don't think that's the proper way of going about this, Malfoy."

Draco sighed heavily, "Look, Granger, I know we aren't friends," at the peal of laughter that escaped her at his words, he shot her a look to silence her, "and I know I've been horrid to you all these years. But … I'm trying to change that. Something happened recently that's made me rethink about a few things, and well, I'm trying, alright? That's all you're getting out from me."

Hermione stared at him in shock, not quite sure about what she had been expecting. "I don't quite know what to say to that."

"Give me your ruddy bag, Granger." he muttered, awkwardly still holding up his hand.

Still a bit confused, she handed him her satchel, which he took and slung over his shoulder, then, he offered his arm to her, looking a little embarrassed, though she was quite pleased with it. No one had offered their arm to her in all her years in Hogwarts - excluding Cedric when he was feeling silly.

They slowed to a stop in front of the Great Hall, just out of sight of the rest.

"Thank you." she smiled, allowing her hand to fall to her side. He handed over her book bag, a small smile on his face.

"You're welcome."

"You know," Hermione said as she started to walk into the Great Hall, "You could start with an 'I'm sorry' before you go demanding to carry witches' bags for them.

He glared at her, "Baby steps, Granger."

* * *

Her laugh echoed through the halls as she disappeared into the Great Hall, sending a shiver down his spine. His arm was still warm where she had wrapped her hand around it, and his heart was beating rapidly in his chest.

That had gone better than he could have planned.

He was glad he hadn't stumbled over his words too much - which was to be expected since he had spent the whole morning rehearsing what he was going to say.

Draco had came to a decision two days prior about starting to make amends with Granger - the idea spurred on by the sight of her and Diggory on the steps of the Entrance Hall.

He had stumbled upon the couple on the way to lunch, and disregarding his Slytherin sensibilities, spied on the pair. Diggory had lifted Hermione up on the marble railing and was trying to pry a kiss from the witch, who kept glancing around uncomfortably.

He knew that look - she had been uncomfortable with how affectionate Diggory was being in public - in his own family and upbringing, displays of affection were kept to a minimum, and most especially, private. Draco had been somewhat smug about the fact that Diggory was having to work for a snog, but that smugness died quickly when the Ravenclaw had surrendered and pressed her lips against the other boy's - stopping only when she heard footsteps coming from the floor above.

Draco had glared at the back of Diggory's head all throughout lunch. Hadn't the tosser realized that Granger had been uneasy?

He didn't know what she saw in him.

* * *

 **a/n:** Terribly sorry for my absence! I've been quite busy lately and just haven't had the time. I posted a new story yesterday for those who are interested. It's a Xover fic with Hermione in the Hobbit. Check it out if you want.


	11. 11

**11**

 **02.24.94**

Hermione wondered whether there was a way to sue a magic school as a towel was wrapped around her hastily. The sound of her teeth chattering almost drowned out the loud cheers from the audience for Cedric, who had come out first, just a few seconds before Krum.

"Are you alright?" asked a concerned looking Cedric as he cast a Warming Charm over her.

Her glare could have cut glass.

"You know, I would have been _flattered_ to be considered _'what you treasure most'_ , but if this is what comes out of it, I'd rather not be." she snapped, casting her own Drying Charm, even though the chill that followed made things all the more worse for her.

Cedric winced at her sharp tone, "I'm sorry love, I didn't think they'd take you."

Hermione huffed as she stood, "I'm going to change." she said, stomping off, her socks squeaking wetly in her shoes.

She had barely taken five steps when she sighed and turned around. Cedric was smiling fondly at her as she retraced her steps back to him.

"Congratulations." she said, looking down at his shoes.

"You going to look up, love?" he asked, chuckling.

Pouting she looked directly into his eyes, "Congratulations."

He turned his cheek to her, glancing expectantly.

"You're impossible." she grumbled, but placed a soft kiss to his cheek anyway.

Cedric laughed, and hugged her against him, dripping clothes and all, eliciting a shriek from her.

"Go on, princess, get changed. I'll be at your tower later. The Puffs are holding a party for me."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "How loyal of them to assume that you would win today."

He laughed at her candor, "They just want a reason to sneak firewhiskey into the castle."

She hid her wince at the mention of whiskey, already knowing that she would be left out at the party, "Don't you want to celebrate with your House alone, though?"

"Nah," he grinned rakishly at her, "'Sides, they've invited everyone."

Well, there was no getting out of this one.

"Alright," she nodded, "Come get me at half past seven."

* * *

Hermione stood next to Cedric, who had one arm encircled tightly around her waist as he talked to every single person who came up to him and thanked them for their congratulations. She had counted three shoves and two elbows to her stomach as more people tried to get closer to the ever popular Hufflepuff, and, though she was hopeless at Divination, she predicted there were more to come.

Her goblet was empty - Cedric had filled it with something called _Gigglewater_ earlier in the evening, which she found out was a poor excuse for champagne. It was too sweet, and she hated the obnoxious laughter that followed every single sip, her laugh had taken her years of practice to perfect and the ones elicited by the horrid drink were far too loud and open-mouthed to be considered proper.

As another gaggle of girls came up to them to fawn over her boyfriend, she stepped out of Cedric's arm. She could feel him tighten his hold as she tried to escape and shot him a small smile.

"I'm just going to get another drink." she said, showing him her empty cup.

"I'll come along with -"

"No," she smiled encouragingly, "it's alright. Stay."

"You sure, love?" he asked, making her roll her eyes.

"Yes, Cedric, no need to worry."

She left it at that, and pretended not to hear one of the girls behind her say, "So, Ced, are you _dating_ dating that Granger girl?"

Hermione didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but she felt a tiny bubble of ire build up inside her at the girl's flirty tone. She squashed it down quickly - she knew Cedric was popular, and this was normal, it was to be expected. She just wished he didn't smile at every bloody girl that approached him with a sweet smile.

The drinks table was on the far corner of the room, almost toppling over with the weight of all the bottles it carried. Her eyes scanned the labels with disinterest. It wasn't much, as expected, after all, the budget was limited to students' allowances and it was tricky to find a place willing to sell liquor to Hogwarts students, she suspected Cedric's housemates had resorted to haggling with The Hog's Head - a dump of a pub that looked like it was as well kept as the Shrieking Shack. She sighed at the sight, bottles of firewhisky lined up along with elf-wine that was so dry it tasted like grape flavored rubbing alcohol, gigglewater and that godforsaken mead that the Weasley twins had brought - charmed to give the drinker bravery to approach whoever they fancied, literal Liquid Courage, they had called it.

"Don't touch any of that." said someone from behind her.

Knowing full well who the voice belonged to, she turned around, brow raised in question, "And why is that, Malfoy?"

"It's all garbage." he sneered, making his face go all pointy again.

"Here," his hand held out a silver flask he had dug out from his pocket, "this is better."

She watched him pour a generous amount of burgundy liquid into her goblet without her permission.

"You think I'm actually going to willingly drink whatever this is, Malfoy? You must take me for a fool." she scoffed.

"Not a fool," he shrugged, pouring himself a cup of his own, "Just a lady with taste."

When she still didn't move to even take a whiff of the drink, he frowned.

"I'm not going to poison you, Granger," he said, rolling his eyes, "It's a bordeaux. My family owns a vineyard in Saint-Emilion. Look, I'll take a sip."

With narrowed eyes, she followed his movement as he drank about a third of his goblet - more than necessary, and she could see the tell tale signs of nervousness as his knuckles gripped the cup tightly.

"You say you aren't going to poison me but your knuckles are bone white, Malfoy." she pointed out.

He chuckled, almost succeeding in masking his awkwardness, "Why would I even want to poison you? If you haven't noticed, Granger, the rest of me is bone white as well."

She huffed, though out of curiosity, she swirled the deep red liquid in the goblet, wafting the scent up to her nose as she did so. The pleasant and familiar aroma of blackcurrant made itself known and she had to bite back a smile.

"Chateau Ausone?" she asked flippantly, though her voice betrayed the lightest bit of surprise.

A grin spread across the Slytherin's face, "Very _good_ , Granger."

She took a hesitant sip, "It's acceptable."

"No need to play coy," Malfoy scoffed, "It's one of the best and you know it."

She hummed as she took a sip - unable to resist, relishing in the tangy sweetness and the bite at the back of her throat, "My family's served this wine for _years_ at our New Year's Eve party, it's my mother's favorite. To think, we've been filling your coffers all this time."

Malfoy grinned, "Our market largely depends on Muggles, Wizarding folk prefer more - _rambunctious_ \- concoctions."

Just as he said that, a third year boy, who definitely should not have been participating in the revelry, passed by them, shouting at a fifth year girl to give him a chance. She and Malfoy frowned in distaste.

"It's alright, then, to deal with _Muggles_ when it's benefiting your check books?" she asked, eyes narrowed in challenge.

"I'm finding that it's alright to deal with Muggles entirely," he said carefully, "It's a mere incentive that we gain something in the process."

Hermione scoffed in disbelief, "Is there any truth at all in your words, Malfoy?"

He smirked secretively, "More than you know, Granger."

"Hermione!" someone called from across the room. She hid her cringe at the obnoxious volume of it, though she might not have hidden it well enough because it seemed as though a hint of amusement passed through the Slytherin's eyes as she turned.

"Your Champion's calling." he teased. She detected a hardness to his tone that had no place being there, but shrugged it off.

"So it seems," she said, as she gestured at Cedric to wait a moment, "Thank you for the drink, Malfoy. You've been oddly tolerable tonight."

"To be oddly tolerable is what I strive for Granger." he grinned, "Enjoy your night."

She nodded politely before walking off, carefully avoiding flailing limbs of people trying to dance. She hadn't been lying, Malfoy had been _pleasant_ , and though it was not entirely unwelcome, it was nonetheless peculiar.

* * *

Hermione was studying in the library again after months of not being able to. The excitement of the tournament had died down a little bit since the second task and the next task wouldn't be until the end of the year. She had been a little too lax this year, if she was being honest with herself - only two topics ahead of every class in her readings when she was usually four or five.

Cedric had been taking up a bit of her time recently, which wasn't a bad thing entirely, it was just out of character and just a _tad_ bit irresponsible. Not to say that he wasn't studying as well, he'd been accompanying her to the library most of the time, but more often than not ended up being distracted, and consequently distracting her by pulling her into his lap to snog.

Su and Padma said she really shouldn't complain, after all a whole lot of girls would have killed her to be in her place. Rumours had been going around the Ravenclaw dorms that Cho Chang - a girl in fifth year - had been flirting with Cedric during joint Quidditch practices. It didn't bother Hermione all that much, her boyfriend was a Hufflepuff after all, and they were loyal. And it wasn't as if Cedric was losing interest in her, he _definitely_ wasn't.

She glanced at him now from the corner of her eye and almost giggled aloud. He had quite a short attention span, which didn't make for the best study habits. As of the moment, his eyes were trained on the window outside and he seemed to be daydreaming. It was a beautiful day out, for sure, but she needed to get her essays done, as well as try and shake him off to get a bit of ballet practice - and there was an idea that presented itself freely.

She grinned mischievously, reaching her hand over to rap his wrist with her quill, jarring the boy out of his trance, "If you want to go flying, you can."

Cedric smiled sheepishly, "You'll be alright here?"

"Of course I will, it's not like the parchment's going to start attacking me." she joked.

"If anything it should be terrified of _you._ " he teased as he got up, "See you at dinner?"

She nodded, smiling as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Have fun."

* * *

He stood waiting in front of Platform 9 ¾, trying to find his mother. He had been one of the handful of students who had opted to spend the Easter hols at home, most of the school chose to stay, what with the Tournament ongoing. It wasn't entirely his decision either, he may have had plans to disrupt Granger's studying in the library, but his mother had asked him to come home, and so he did.

Finally, he spotted her silver streaked black hair bobbing through the sea of people, and made his way towards her. Narcissa Malfoy was looking as impeccable as ever, with pastel blue robes to match the holiday.

"Good morning, Mother." he said, bowing his head respectfully before he pressed a kiss on each cheek.

"I missed you, my dragon." she smiled at him fondly, "Do you have everything?"

"Yes." he nodded, patting his pocket where he had stowed his shrunken trunk.

"Very good, now, we have somewhere we need to get to in five minutes." Narcissa said, glancing at her watch before looking at him up and down, "We'll have to fix our attire as well."

A quick flourish of her wand had them both dressed in muggle attire, her pastel robes into a green cap sleeved summer dress and his own robes into a navy suit jacket over a white Oxford and khaki pants.

"No questions until we get there, Draco, now hold my wrist firmly, wouldn't want to splinch you, do we?"

He nodded, grabbing hold of his mother just a moment before she Apparated them both. The uneasy feeling of Apparation engulfed him again, even though he had gotten used to it by now, the pinching in his gut always made him nauseous.

A loud blare of a horn rang from somewhere near them, and as his eyes adjusted, he realized they were in an alley way, muggle cars whizzing past from one end. He looked to his mother in surprise, "Are we in muggle London?"

Narcissa nodded, he could see the tension in her eyes as she did. "We're meeting your aunt in a restaurant nearby."

"My _aunt_? You don't mean -"

His mother spared him a confused glance, and seeing that her son had blanched in shock, she quickly amended the misunderstanding, "Your other aunt. Andromeda. She agreed to meet me over the winter and we've talked a few times, but only at muggle establishments, she's always been a bit suspicious of me. I asked if I could bring you today and she agreed."

"But why, Mother? Why now?" he asked, following her out into the busy streets. Head growing dizzier by the minute

"It's as good a time as any, dear." she responded, clutching his arm so he wouldn't disappear in the throng of people, "Perhaps a bit late, even. Ah, here we are."

They'd stopped in front of a rather large, ornate white building, the signage at the entrance read _The Ritz_. It looked like a decent enough place, and he wondered whether his aunt had picked the location of their meeting. Narcissa spied her son's look and smiled to herself.

"Andy loves afternoon tea. For all her talk about leading a simpler life now, she still can't control herself when it comes to this. That, and she thought we'd be more comfortable here."

"It sounds as though there's an insult somewhere there." he commented as the two of them stepped inside.

"Oh, yes of course, but she isn't wrong." his mother said, laughing to herself.

They were led to a section of the building that matched the grandiose theme in every way. Muggle servers were milling about, taking and bringing orders. It was an odd sight for him, having become so used to house elves.

"Hello, sister." Narcissa said, smiling, though a bit uneasily at the dark haired woman sitting alone in front of them. She had chosen a table in front of one of the tall windows, and in the afternoon light, the sharp, Black features were softened somewhat. Andromeda Black had almost the exact same eyes as his mother, icy blue and just as piercing, other than that, she was a replica of Bellatrix, wild hair, high cheekbones and deep set eyes, though the absence of his other aunt's crazed expression made her seem like an entirely different person.

"Good afternoon, Cissy." Andromeda said with a smile only she seemed to understand as she stood to greet them, "This must be Draco."

Draco bowed his head politely, "Good afternoon, Madam."

 _That_ elicited a laugh from her, "Madam? Cissa, you really have followed mother's instructions to a tee. Call me Aunt Andromeda, Draco, you are, after all, my nephew."

He smiled at her, taking the seat in the middle after the two women sat down. His mother and aunt exchanged a few pleasantries, and he took the time to observe this new woman. He had decided he liked her, just because he reminded him so much of the other woman at the table. Narcissa looked brighter as she talked with her sister, much happier than he had seen her in quite a while. If his aunt could bring such a change in her, then he would accept it readily.

"How had Hogwarts been so far, Draco?" his aunt asked, placing her attention on him.

"Busy," he said, sipping his tea - darjeeling by the smell of it, "The Triwizard Tournament has the castle fuller than ever. Barely any students left for the holidays. It's quite hectic, I haven't found a quiet place to myself in months."

"Ah, yes, I'd read about that." Andromeda nodded, "There was a small piece in the Prophet about the Yule Ball alongside several pictures of the Champions and their dates. Was school ever as exciting for us, Cissa?"

His mother laughed, "I can't say we had any Tournaments back then. Speaking of that article, I had seen it as well. I noticed that the Hogwarts Champion was with that girl I saw last time at the station - the one who was wearing the same robes as me, what was her name again, Draco?"

At the mention of _her_ , he choked on the sandwich he had been chewing, much to his mother's ire. Quickly, he caught himself, easing his coughs with a sip of water, as he prayed that the flush he felt in his cheeks would go unnoticed. "That would be Hermione Granger, Mother."

"Yes, that's right," Narcissa said, exchanging a knowing look with her sister, "When I saw her at the station, she reminded me so much of you, Andy, that I thought I'd gone back in time! Now is there a reason why you didn't ask her to the ball, Draco? She seemed like such a nice girl, _much_ better than that Posey's loud daughter."

He quieted and tried to look everywhere except the inquisitive gazes of his aunt and mother.

"You asked a _Parkinson_ to be your date? She'll take a while to get rid of." Andromeda laughed, but quickly her expression changed - blue eyes narrowed in suspicion, looking pointedly at him, "Granger, now that isn't a Wizarding name, is it?"

Draco's eyes widened at the insinuation, "It's nothing like that, I swear on Slytherin!"

Andromeda's smirk widened at his slip, "Then what is it like, nephew, and why has it got you all flustered all of a sudden?"

He looked at his mother for help, but all he got was the exact same calculating smirk in reply. A sigh of surrender was released and the women at the table chuckled.

"She doesn't know what to make of me." he admitted, "And Granger already had a date long before the ball was announced."

"Expound, Draco." Narcissa urged.

"I haven't been all that nice to her." he admitted, glancing at his aunt, "She's a Muggleborn, and well, I may have been a bit harsh, though I've been trying to make up for it. She's talking to me now, and doesn't look so disgusted when I approach her. You would like her, Mother - she paints and dances and plays the piano, and she doesn't twitter, like you always say about girls my age. She's from a good family but that's a secret - oh, _bollocks_."

The two pairs of eyes sharpened at his slip of the tongue, and the curse that fell from his lips was ignored.

"It seems as though your little crush is more interesting than I thought, Draco." Narcissa purred.

"She's not my crush -" he protested.

" _Hush_ , nephew," Andromeda said, eyes glinting, "Now why don't you tell us all about this Miss Granger of yours."

* * *

 **a/n:** sorry for the terribly long wait! Here's a quick update for you guys. Will probably put up a chapter for Daughter of Oak then Work of A Fairy next! Thanks so much for being patient!


	12. 12

**12**

 **06.30.95**

Hermione slid the compartment door closed, rolling her eyes at her friends as the made kissy-faces at her, "Do you see what you've done? Now they won't be talking about anything else for the rest of the ride home."

Cedric grinned, playfully winking at Su and Padma, who blushed brightly, and at Justin, who feigned retching. "Your friends are hilarious."

She shook her head at the lot of them, "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Right, so will I be seeing your parents on the platform then?" he asked expectantly, "It's about time, don't you think? Would've been better if I'd won the tournament so I'd have something to show of myself, but can't be helped."

Hermione's brows rose in alarm, "My parents?"

Cedric nodded, "I told you I wanted to meet them, after the third task, when we were in the Hospital Wing. I know I said it, because Madame Pomfrey smacked me upside the head for talking when I was still under Fleur's Tongue Enlarging Jinx."

She frowned, "I must've forgotten, with everything that was happening."

"Doesn't matter," he said, brushing it off, "You'll still introduce me, right?"

Biting her lip, she looked up at him apologetically, "They won't be coming to get me, I'm sorry. They're very busy people and they never have the time to send me off or pick me up."

"Oh," Cedric said, "Well, maybe I can come home with you, just to get the formalities over with? We _have_ been dating for six months now."

"No!" she blurted out, surprising him.

"Do you not want me to meet them?" he asked, puzzled, and a little hurt.

"No, no," she said, shaking her head frantically, curls flying into her face,"Nothing like that, it's just - they won't be home, probably not until very late. Their schedules just don't match up. I'm sorry, Cedric. Maybe I can convince them to send me off in September and you can meet them then?"

Her boyfriend looked at her skeptically, before nodding slowly, "Alright, then. You'll write me, yeah?"

"Of course," she nodded, a relieved smile gracing her face, "As much as I can, I promise."

"Counting on it, princess." he winked, "Got to get back to the boys. I'll come get you when we pull up into the station?"

She nodded, smiling as he pecked her on the cheek.

Her smile dropped however, as soon as she turned to face her friends, a frazzled look occupying her face instead. "I have a bit of a dilemma."

"We gathered," Su smirked, "Your hair looked like it was going through a tornado, with all of your head shaking. What's got your knickers in a twist?"

"He wants to meet my parents." she said, sitting down in a very unladylike huff.

"So?" Su said, "Don't you want him to meet then?"

"I haven't told him yet." she admitted.

"He's your boyfriend, Mione, don't you trust him?" Padma said gently.

She sighed, "It's a big secret to tell, and I've only known him for so long. I didn't tell you guys for _years_."

"But he'll find out sooner or later." Justin said, "Best rip the band-aid off now."

"It doesn't feel right." she sighed, unable to explain exactly what was stopping her.

"Do you feel as if you and Cedric aren't going to last?" Padma asked, as softly as she could.

Hermione buried her face in her hands, "Would it be wretched of me to think that?" she said.

Her three friends shared a look while she was unaware, deciding that ultimately, Padma would be the best to lead the conversation.

"Why do you feel that way, love? We thought it was going great with you two?" the girl said, smiling encouragingly.

Hermione looked at her, visibly stressed, "They were - are! It's just, I don't know - I can't see it ever happening in my mind. Cedric is _amazing_ , he's kind, and funny, but I sometimes find myself zoning out when he's talking or getting annoyed when he makes fun of my ballet, or things like that. I don't know what it is but -"

"But, even though he's great, he isn't next Duke of Northumberland great." Justin said knowingly. "It's not your fault, Mione. We were raised a certain way and have to live up to certain things. It's just the way it is."

"Wait," Su interrupted, "I thought you said you _wouldn't_ be inheriting the title? Why are you making such a fuss out of it?"

"Technically, my younger brother's going to be the Duke, but only publicly. I'll be holding everything else. My father thinks it's unfair to me, with the way my grandfather trained me for it, and George doesn't really want to be heir apparent, I think he wants to go to art school."

"So you'll be doing all the work?" Padma asked, "How will that work?"

"The same way my father did all of my Uncle's work for him." Hermione shrugged, "Can we get back to the matter at hand? I feel horrid for stringing Cedric along like this, but I like him, and I don't want to end it just yet."

Su grinned like a fox, "Oh, I like this side of you, you heartbreaker."

Hermione pouted, "I don't want to be one! Maybe I should just end it now, before it gets too messy." She made a move to stand, and was instantly pulled down by three pairs of hands.

"How about, how about you give it a bit of time. It's the summer, you won't be seeing each other anyways, if you still feel like this after the end of the holidays, then you can tell him when we get back to Hogwarts." Padma said sagely.

She mulled it over, then nodded hesitantly, "You don't think I'm being cruel?"

Su shrugged, "We're teenagers, relationships die like flies at our age, it isn't a big deal. Diggory's leaving after next year anyway. I don't think he'd be too heartbroken over it, unless of course, you've already managed to make him fall in love with you."

"Of course not!" Hermione said, "It definitely doesn't feel that way."

"Then don't beat yourself up over it." Justin said, "Get through the summer, owl him now and again, and make up your mind before classes start."

She nodded in agreement. "You're right. I'll do that."

* * *

Draco watched as Diggory helped Hermione off the train, an impassive look on his face, but within his chest swirled a growing green eyed hippogriff. He felt a hand settle on his shoulder and looked over to find his mother's knowing face peering at him.

"Give it time, my dragon." she said, eyeing the girl approvingly. "If the Diggory boy is how you say he is, I give it until the end of the summer."

Draco nodded, turning before as soon as Granger made to kiss Diggory. "Aren't we late for tea, mother?"

* * *

 **07.7.95**

Hermione Jean Percy was very sure that she was on the brink of death.

Her mother, however, thought otherwise, as she spouted off another thing for her daughter to take note of. Jane Percy had officially enlisted her daughter as her personal assistant, having fired her last one in May, just in time for _the season._ Jane was in charge of exactly three dinners, one gala, four luncheons, and a garden party for only June and July.

Hermione had been spreading herself as thin as possible, attending lessons for half of the day, and attending to her mother the other half. Her father had been seeking her out more, as well, as part of her training.

For the past week since arriving home, she had been contacting caterers, hotels, florists, and everything else you could think of because her mother simply _refused_ to hire an event planner.

"Have you called the florist yet?' Her mother asked, as she flipped through pictures of table settings in a portfolio the caterers had sent.

"Yes, I've approved the flowers for the Hospital Charity luncheon and the ones for the rotary gala. You still haven't said if you liked the table arrangements for the gala."

"Were those the ones with the white carnations?" Jane asked.

"Yes."

"Alright, that's fine. Can you also note that someone needs to pick up both ours dresses for the gala, please?"

"You had a dress made?" Hermione asked, "Mother, I could have used one of my old ones. I'll most likely need to slip into the background anyway -"

"Oh hush, you know how those galas go, you won't be seen with how that lot prance about." Jane waved away, taking a sip of her prosecco - which she had requested at _nine in the morning_.

Hermione jotted down a few more things before they were disturbed by the harsh tapping of something against glass. The two women looked around, to find a large bar owl perched on one of the stone window ledges, envelope in its beak.

"Hello, love." Hermione said as she opened the window, "Thank you very much."

"Who's it from?" her mother asked, eyeing the unopened envelope.

"Cedric, it seems," she said, setting it down onto a table, "I'll read it later. Have you and father settled on the amount you'll be donating for the Women's Institute yet?"

The envelope was set aside, later on to be added to the growing pile of letters on her desk in her room.

* * *

 **07.29.95**

"Hermione!" her mother shouted, sounding frantic, her voice echoing throughout the castle.

"Why-ever are you shouting, mother?" Hermione asked, hurrying down the stairs to find her mother, in a right state, sitting down forlornly in her study.

"I just got off the phone with the caterer for tomorrow." Jane said miserably, "There was a mix-up with the dates for shipping the wine, and there isn't a place anywhere _near_ here that will get the amount we need in time."

Hermione's eyes widened at her mother's tone, "Have you tried _everyone_? Even Father's associates?"

Her mother frowned, "Stocks are low. It _is_ the season after all. Everyone's hosting parties here and there, you know as much."

"But we can't have a gala without wine!" Hermione said, rather uselessly from the sound her mother let out - a pathetic little whimper that sounded like a puppy being kicked.

"We'll have to cancel the entire event." she sighed dejectedly.

"No." her daughter said suddenly, eyes brightening with an idea, "We might not have to. Let me just send an owl, Mother, before we go calling everything off."

As quick as her feet could bring her, she made her way to her room, penning a quick letter and attaching it to her owl's leg. "Here you go, darling, now I don't know exactly where he lives, but I'm sure you can find that out. If his reply gets here within the hour, I promise to have extra treats waiting for you when you arrive."

The bird chirped excitedly in reply before hopping off the window ledge with an urgency that made its owner chuckle.

* * *

 **07.30.95**

Hermione grinned smugly when she heard the distinct pops of Apparition sound somewhere within the castle. She hoped to Merlin that he'd listened about where to appear, or else the maids would have been given quite a fright. It was the day of the gala, and there were dozens of workers milling about, getting last minute preparations done and cowering at Jane Percy, who was ten times as terrifying as her daughter. Hermione's brothers and sisters had been scuttled off with their tutors for the day, still too young to be helping _or_ attending. Hermione herself would be posing as her mother's niece or some sort if anyone asked.

"Hermione!" a small voice called from the stairwell below as she made her way down from her rooms. She could spy the grinning head of her sister, Melissa, probably having just escaped from lessons to find out what the commotion was about. "A lady and a boy just appeared in the great room with some funny looking creatures carrying boxes!"

"Yes, Mel, I was expecting them." she said, trying to hide her smirk at her sister's wide eyed look, "Now get back to your governess before Mother finds out you're skiving off again."

The young girl let out a shriek before dashing back to the library, giggling as she went.

Hermione let out a breath upon nearing the great room, which had been closed off from the workers and servants. She patted down her lilac sundress, smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles and opened the doors, letting them fall shut behind her as she entered, a welcoming smile plastered on her face at the sight of Draco Malfoy and his mother, who was looking around the spacious room with thinly veiled curiosity.

"Good Morning!" she greeted politely, "Welcome to Alnwick Castle. My mother and I can't thank you enough for doing this on such short notice."

"Good Morning, Hermione." Draco said stiffly, as uncomfortable as she'd ever seen him, "May I introduce my mother, Lady Narcissa Malfoy, Mother, this is Hermione." Hermione missed the look of approval the wizard sent her way, taking in the flowy dress and white sandals.

"Narcissa, please." the haughty looking woman said, leaning down to exchange kisses with the younger witch. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Lady Hermione."

"Call me Hermione," she said, pleased by the fact that the supposedly bigoted lady had not at all hesitated to touch her. "I'm sorry my mother wasn't the one to meet you, she has her hands full at the moment, you see."

"It's perfectly understandable," Narcissa said, brushing it off with her hand, "These things are quite taxing to arrange, especially at this time of year."

"Mother wanted me to invite you later on tonight. I know it's on such short notice, and it's a Muggle event, but she simply insisted. She's never met a parent of one of my peers, and is a bit uneasy because of it." Hermione said, cringing slightly at the admission.

Narcissa nodded, "I can see how that would unsettle a mother. Unfortunately, I've already made plans for tonight, but I would like to meet your mother as well, she seems like a fine woman. Perhaps we can arrange to have tea, on a day not quite as busy."

"She would like that very much, I think." Hermione smiled.

"Draco though, has nothing planned for tonight, and would be _delighted_ to accompany you, if you don't have an escort to the gala." said the witch, eyes flashing stealthily.

Hermione's eyes widened slightly as she turned to look at her classmate, who was glaring at his mother impetuously. Sensing her gaze on him, he immediately erased the expression off his face and sent a congenial grin her way.

"If you'll have me, of course, Hermione." the boy said, masking his ire almost entirely.

Hermione had to strangle the sound of protest that was itching to leave her mouth, "As it happens, I _don't_ have an escort. If Draco's sure he would like to…"

"It would be my _pleasure_." Draco said, though it seemed he was trying to attack his mother with the statement.

"Well then, I guess I'll be seeing you tonight at half past six. Please meet me in this room, to avoid any incidents." she said, cheeks filling with color.

"He'll be here." Narcissa said, smiling knowingly. "It was a delight to meet you, my dear, Draco's did not lie about you whatsoever."

Hermione's heart stuttered at that statement and her mind struggled to make sense of it, swallowing down the question building in her throat, she turned instead to the wizards, who looked ready to commit matricide, "I'll be wearing silver."

The boy nodded tersely, before his mother took his arm and the two Apparated away with a few words of goodbye.

* * *

 **a/n:** Okay, I'd like you all to remember that Hermione'r reason to end things with Cedric is perfectly normal for someone of her station. Not saying that she's shallow (which she is kind of, in this story because of who she is) but just because she has her responsibilities. It may not be an exciting reason to break up with him, but Cedric is kind of perfect, in his own way, and because he's a Hufflepuff, I don't see him doing anything too shitty to earn Hermione's hatred. Their relationship is merely ending very organically, like a lot of relationships do.

Also, I'm very sorry about not updating regularly, it's been tiresome to write these days and I just can't find the drive to. This chapter is short but it was long enough to pass off as a filler chapter so you guys won't forget that I'm still alive.

 _ **xx China**_


	13. 13

**13**

Hermione sighed in distress for about the seventeenth time in one hour. Her hair was in disarray, her make up was just barely finished and she had a slightly crazed look in her eye that made her look a tad unhinged. There was only an hour left until her mother would need her downstairs to help meet the guests, and she was nowhere close to ready. A sharp knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts, the girl in the mirror, reflecting her surprise.

"Come in!" she said, swiping a layer of mascara onto her lashes. It would have to do.

Mary appeared in the open door, carrying a black garment back gingerly along with her. "Your dress has arrived, my Lady."

Hermione nodded, waving her hand in the direction of her bed. "Just set it down, please. I don't need to know what my mother's pulled out her sleeve this time. Would you be a dear and help me with this mess of a haystack, Mary?"

"Of course, my Lady." the maid nodded, grinning in understanding. She and her mistress had spent many hours wrestling the mass of curls into submission before. "You know, the dress your mother picked isn't all that bad. Understated for her taste, if I may say so."

"That's not saying much." she sighed, her head jerking back as Mary pulled her hair one way.

"Well, I bet you'll be impressing your boyfriend no matter what you wear, my Lady." Mary said, smirking slyly.

Hermione sputtered, "B-boyfriend!? Wherever did you hear that nonsense, Mary?"

"I thought - Lady Catherine mentioned you would be escorted to the gala by -"

"Oooh, that meddlesome little brat!" Hermione growled, making Mary's eyes widen surprise.

"Draco Malfoy most definitely is _not_ my boyfriend!" she said with vehemence, than, catching herself, she breathed out calmly, "He's merely an acquaintance."

Mary quieted for a while, focused on wrangling her mistress' curls into a low chignon to match her dress. The locks kept trying to fall out from her fingers as if they had a mind of their own. It took several bobby pins and spritzes of hair spray before the bun was held properly in submission.

Just as they finished, the clock on Hermione's wall clock struck six, signaling that she needed to be in her dress and downstairs in fifteen minutes. Mary quickly unzipped the garment bag, leaving the dress exposed.

Hermione supposed it _was_ quite understated for her mother's tastes - thankfully - no one would pay her much mind in it, and she really couldn't be risking her anonymity by stealing the spotlight. It was modest, to say the least, a deep ocean blue color, with a square halter neck that framed her collar bones and a tight bodice, and a skirt that hugged her curves snugly. She slipped it on quickly, admiring the way the layers of the skirt fell smoothly down, accentuating her waist. Matching shoes were then slipped on, as well as a pair of diamond drop earrings - one of her father's birthday presents for her the year before, as well as a thin diamond cuff.

When she deemed her reflection passable - bar the untamable curl that had escaped from its prison, she quickly made her way down to the Great Room, with a minute to spare. Her father, surprisingly, was sitting in front of the fire, a pipe lazily hanging from his lip as he watched her walk in.

He stood as she approached, a conniving grin on her face. "You look, beautiful, my darling." he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Father, please don't embarrass me." she muttered, knowing full well what the man was up to.

"I have no clue what you're talking about, Hermione." he said innocently, "I'm just here to welcome our guest."

Perfectly on time at the strike of half past six, two figures popped out of thin air, looking nnplussed by their Apparition. She scanned her would be date discreetly, taking note of the pristine suit he had on. It would have been a surprise to see Malfoy in muggle formal wear, but she had no doubt in her mind that Narcissa Malfoy was just as adamant as her mother that her son be prepared for anything.

Hermione approached the two with what she hoped was a smile that did not seem as strained as it felt to her. "Good evening, Lady Malfoy, Draco. This is my father Lord Ralph Percy, Duke of Northumberland."

The man smiled warmly at the two guests, taking Narcissa's hand and pressing a kiss to it with a bow, then inclining his head at Draco. "A pleasure to have you in our home." he said, "It isn't very often I get to meet my daughter's friends, even less their parents. It's a shame you won't be joining us, Lady Narcissa, it would have been interesting to hear more of your world other than my daughter's version of it."

"Some other time, perhaps." Narcissa smiled sincerely, "I've promised your wife tea, so I'm sure it will be soon. In the meantime, Draco will come in my stead. I'll have one of our elves return for him when he's ready. It was a pleasure meeting you, Lord Percy, Hermione."

Hermione and her father smiled at the woman, watching her Apparate away.

"Now," Ralph said, turning to the two of them, eyes glinting at Draco mischievously, "best be telling me all you know about Hermione, my boy. I would very much like to believe that she's my perfect little girl - which she is, but perhaps there's a bit more to what she gets up to in that old castle of yours, eh? What do you know of one Cedric Diggory?"

Hermione saw the surprise in Malfoy's eyes as her father wrapped a strong arm around the boy's shoulder, and the Slytherin smirk that appeared at the opportunity to embarrass her, and she prepared herself for the worst. He opened his mouth, looking directly into her father's eyes, and what she expected never came.

"I'm sorry to dash your hopes sir, but Hermione's the perfect lady, even with Diggory." Malfoy said, smiling charmingly, "Quite a disappointment, actually, we've been waiting for her to crack but it seems you've taught her well."

Ralph Percy harrumphed in disbelief, glaring at his daughter, "I don't know what you've done to this one as well, but I'll catch you one day, love. No child of mine will be a goody two shoes!" And with that dramatic statement, he disappeared out the door.

Hermione sighed, and smiled apologetically at her guest, "He takes every chance he can get to embarrass me in front of my friends. Thank you for that."

Malfoy shrugged, "It isn't my place to tell him that you snog your boyfriend's brains out in the library's Restricted Section, Granger."

"I knew it!" Ralph shouted, popping out from behind the door, look of triumph on his face that quickly evolved into one of nausea, "Oh, I don't quite like knowing it. I'll pretend that I wasn't here and my daughter's never even heard the word snog. Yes, that's better."

Once again he disappeared, but by the sound of his footsteps, he was gone for good this time. Malfoy was smirking at her in mirth, watching her face flush in embarrassment.

"You _knew_ he was there!" she accused, swatting his arm. "You wretched boy! Ugh! He'll never look at me the same again!"

Malfoy shrugged, "He was going to find out sooner or later. Or did you plan on leading another second life in a nunnery?"

She groaned, "You infuriate me."

"And it's an honor to do so." he nodded, "So what now? Do you have to greet your guests at the door?"

She shook her head, "I don't exist here, actually, well, I'm not supposed to. I usually keep my head down and help as much as I can, but with you here, I suspect my mother will give me less to do than normal, or perhaps pass my tasks onto someone else entirely."

"So they just act like you don't exist to them? That's harsh, Granger." he said, raising a brow at her.

She smiled sadly, "It's normal. Besides, it isn't much of a choice. I love magic, and if this is the price I have to pay, I'd do it."

"But what about your title? Your inheritance?" Malfoy asked a little stunned. "Will that all just be pushed to the wayside?"

She laughed, shaking her head no, "Of course not. My grandfather wasn't cruel enough to teach me to be his heiress just to give it to my brother. And my father knows it would be unfair. I just won't be in the spotlight for it, which is a blessing, to be honest. I can deal with the work in the background, the galas and dinners are just trimmings I don't need.

"You know, I'm actually kind of relieved that I have magic to save me from a few things. I'd have been engaged to the prince by now if I were a muggle." she said this with an amused laugh, but the look on Malfoy's face was incredulous.

"You aren't bothered by that?" he asked, "You'd have been a princess!"

"I'd prefer being a witch, thanks." she said drily.

He nodded, seeming to get a clearer understanding of her stance, "Well, I'm glad the Ministry's allowed you to live both of your lives then."

Hermione looked at him oddly before shaking herself off, "Right. We best be going. Mother's opening the doors at seven and even if she doesn't call on me for help I want to be there to oversee everything. Let's go, and if you put a toe out of line or do anything to ruin things, I'll make you regret it."

* * *

Draco had to remind himself not to tense up while her hand was wrapped around his arm. They had been standing to one side of the ballroom for sometime after the first guests had entered and it was taking him a load of patience not to react to the worrying of her fingers at his sleeve.

He had been observing her for a few minutes, taking note of the gracious way she spoke to the servants, beginning with a please and ending with a thank you. He wondered if he had ever thanked his house elves for anything in his life. Probably not.

The gala was an interesting sight, but not one out of his ordinary. Bar the magic, everything seemed to be exactly how he'd pictured it to be. There was a tasteful band playing in the corner, and servants were standing at the ready, not unlike the galas his own family would throw. Even the guests resembled much of his mother's, with the women looking as though they were in competition with one another, trying their best to look better than the woman next to them.

"Do you see that woman in the orange gown?" Hermione said, lips barely moving, a feat he admired, but personally would prefer the opposite.

"The one who looks like one of Hagrid's Halloween pumpkins?" he said in the same quiet way. He felt her hand grip his arm tighter, and saw the laugh she tried - and almost failed - to bite down.

"Exactly." she said, "Last year she fell into our fountain outside after having ten glasses too many. Father and I are placing bets on how many she has before she cracks. We think she might end up in our poison garden this year."

"I never took you for a betting woman, Granger." he said, grinning. "And you have a poison garden?"

"I indulge my father from time to time." she replied, "And yes, it's been there since forever, along with a regular herb garden, but I've put it to use recently. It's why I always have better potions than most. Mother sends a new supply every other week."

"Pity that I always seem to have a better potion than you, then is it?" he smirked.

"You've got Snape in your pocket." she said, nose wrinkling, "He always favors you Slytherins over anyone else."

"It might also be that I'm actually _good_ at Potions though." he said, raising a brow at her, feigning hurt.

She even looked guilty about it, "Well,-"

"Though it does help that he's my godfather."

The scowl on her face made him chuckle out loud, "Come now, you don't think Snape's one for nepotism, do you? He's nothing but fair, well, except to the Gryffindors."

"Infuriating." she mumbled again, scanning the room for the nth time. "It seems as though Mother has everything covered. Dinner will be starting soon. Do you want to stay?"

"Is there an option not to?" he asked in surprise.

"I usually don't stay when the meal begins. People tend to ask too many questions." she explained, "The servants know to set a table for me if I decide to make a quick getaway."

Draco could barely hold in his sigh of relief, "Thank Merlin, let's go."

"Why?" she asked sharply, "Not keen on spending an entire evening with a bunch of Muggles?"

He balked at the insinuation, backpedaling quickly, "Of course not! I just thought you might be the type to enjoy these things. I've honestly attended enough of them to last me a lifetime."

Her expression eased, to his relief and she let out a chuckle, "Same here, Malfoy. It would be more worth my while if I were free to talk to anyone, but as it is, I don't quite enjoy being a spectator. Come on then, my brothers and sisters are probably still in the dining room."

They exited through a small passage that led them into a bustling kitchen. The muggles paid them no mind, except for a few who smiled at them knowingly, much to their embarrassment.

"Godfrey!" Hermione tutted, spotting a hulking beast of a dog lying next to a burner. "You know better than to be here during one of Mother's events. Come now, you're much too big for kitchen scraps and you know it."

The hound grumbled in protest at her, but followed none the less, sniffing at him as it passed by and letting out a sneeze. Draco scrunched his nose at the wetness it left behind.

"That means he likes you." Hermione laughed. "Padma and Su met him, he practically drowned them in slobber."

"Your friends have been to your home?" he asked as they exited into a hallway. The interior of the house was much like his own, the walls adorned with portraits and paintings, the windows draped in heavy curtains.

"Just recently." she said, leading him around the corner, "Only the two of them and Justin know."

"Finch-Fletchley? The Puff? I didn't know you were close." he inquired, trying to inspect the rest of the hallway discreetly.

"Yes, and you know they hate being called that." she said, glaring at him half heartedly. "We weren't close, but we come from similar backgrounds and he sort of found out a few years back when my uncle died and he saw me here. He was the first person I told outside my family."

"Good of him not to tell on you." he commented, eliciting a laugh from her.

"Justin's much too scared of me to ever stab me in the back." she said. "I have no clue as to why, but it does help if I need someone to push around a bit."

"Well, you _are_ a bit terrifying at times, Granger, no offense."

"How can I _not_ take offense at that, you prat?" she frowned.

"I don't mean it that way. You're just intimidating, I guess. You're top of the class and the teachers adore you, you're pretty and kind. People just don't know how to deal with someone like you."

The sound of himself complimenting her made him bit his own tongue, but it was too late, she was already looking at him as if he'd sprouted a second head. Draco could practically feel the blush rising into his cheeks as she kept on staring.

"Don't look at me like that, Granger." he snapped defensively, "I never said I thought so."

The look she was giving him was one of disbelief, "Er, okay." she said haltingly, "We're here."

Awkwardly she pushed open a pair of heavy wooden doors to reveal a casual dining room, where a small bit of chaos was unfolding. Two of the younger children were grabbing at each other, with hair wrapped around the other's fist, both screaming at the top of their lungs, their two nannies were trying their best to separate them. The two older ones looked to be in the middle of a heated argument, which the girl looked to be winning, because the boy was turning a bright shade of puce.

"Ehem." Hermione coughed, which affected the room surprisingly, the children all paused to look at the new arrivals.

"Mione!" the younger siblings yelled excitedly, letting go of one another to run at their eldest sister. The smaller boy jumped into his sister's arms, even though he seemed to be almost five years old.

"You have to stop doing that." Hermione said with an oomph, "You're getting much too heavy for me Maxie."

The boy ignored her complaint, choosing instead to look at Draco curiously, "Who he?"

"That's Draco, one of my classmates." she said. "Introduce yourself, love."

"I'm Max." the kid said, "This is Melly, and tha's Georgie and Katie. You Drakey?"

"Drac- _o_." he emphasized.

"Katie says you Mione's boyfriend!" he said, much to his sister's horror.

"No, he most certainly is not!" Hermione hissed. "And I'd very much appreciate it if you stopped saying that, Catherine."

The older girl just smirked at her older sister, a much too Slytherin look for Draco's liking. The kid however ignored this.

"But you do magic too?" he asked expectantly.

Draco sent a look to his classmate, "Is your house under the Trace?"

At the shake of her head he grinned at the young boy and flourished his hand, charming a paper dragon into existence and making it hover around the room. It landed on one of the servants' shoulders, which made him freeze.

"Aren't they muggles?" he whispered in horror,

"No, don't worry." she soothed, "Our closest nannies and butlers are squibs. The Ministry provided us with their resumes. Nice charmwork by the way. Wandless too."

"Convenient." he grinned. "And thanks."

"Do another one!" Max and Mel shouted.

"Come now." Hermione chided, "You two still haven't finished your dinner, and Draco hasn't even eaten. Where have your manners gone?"

"Sorry, Mione." the two chorused, effectively scolded. With their tails between their legs, they scampered back to the table. Draco sat awkwardly next to her, opposite to the older brother and next to the sister.

The dinner went well enough, he thought. Just one other fight broke out between the younger siblings, which was put to rest quickly by the older three. The sight of the five of them was an odd one to Draco, with him being an only child. It was probably one of the biggest differences between him and her, and he found himself a bit jealous because of it. Dinner in his home was a much quieter affair - with his parents doing most of the talking. This warm bond between the siblings was unfamiliar to him, and it made him wonder of a life with a brother or a sister.

He found himself looking at Hermione's face for a second too long, and caught Catherine's eye as he looked away. She was grinning at him knowingly, a brow raised at her sister, making him think that she would have been a Slytherin in another life.

As they finished eating and the food was cleared, they proceeded into a drawing room just across from the dining room, where Max quite quickly warmed up to him by sitting on his lap and commanding him to do more magic. He laughed in disbelief at the adamant look in the boy's eye, and with a look of approval from Hermione, he cast a few more charms - one that made two ornamental vases dance, one that turned Melissa's hair pink, and one that made Max's shoes three sizes bigger - drawing peals of laughter from him and his sister.

"Again, again!" the two cried.

"That's enough for tonight I think." Hermione said with an air of finality. "You two need to be in bed soon, and Catherine and George still have lessons in the morning."

"Aw, but Mione!" whined Melissa, pouting at her older sister.

"No buts, Mel, Mother's going to blame me if you can't get out of bed tomorrow, and I'd like to avoid that, thank you very much. Now, off to bed with you. Draco and I still have things to do."

" _Suuuure_ you do." drawled Catherine teasingly. "Have fun, sis."

The four siblings vacated the room with their nannies, leaving the two of them alone. "Katie's becoming an infuriating thing." Hermione huffed.

"She's just taking the mickey out of you, _Mione_ , no big deal." he smirked.

"No." she said flatly.

"No, what, _Mione_?"

"If you say it one more time Malfoy, I'll sever your tongue right out of your mouth." she said, eyes glinting murderously, making him throw his hands up in retreat.

"So, what now?' he asked cautiously.

"Want to go riding?" she asked, an excited look on her face.

"I thought you hated flying, Granger." he said, looking at her oddly.

"Exactly." she said, grasping his wrist and dragging him quickly along.

* * *

 **a/n:** hello loves, I'm sorry I've been away for such a long time! I've just been dealing with school, and starting a new relationship and everything else fell a bit to the wayside. Hope this begins to make up for it!


	14. Author's Note

Hello,

First of all, I hope this note finds you all safe and healthy. These are terrible times we live in and the most we can all do is cope. I truly wish that all of you are dealing with the current situation as best as you possibly can. Second of all, I want to thank you for supporting this story. The overwhelming support I've gotten through your reactions and reviews have honestly stunned me, but I'm afraid I have to let you down, if only for the moment.

I'm taking a step back from The Hidden Duchess. It's taken me too long to finish this story and I find myself forgetting what i've written, and having to reread my own story to jog my memory. I've been so busy this year, as you all may have noticed. My time for writing fanfiction has been cut by everything else. I have no clue where this story is going anymore and all I want is to do right by my readers. I'm placing this story on a temporary hiatus. I hope that I'm not letting you down. One of my own pet peeves is authors who have more on hiatus stories than they have WIPs and completed ones. I have several other projects that I'm more interested in at the moment and I just can't seem to focus on this one.

I hope you all understand.

xx, China


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